Closure News

All remaining Houston Big Lots stores host going out of business sales

Big Lots might be closing.

dallas.culturemap.com

Discount retail chain Big Lots is hosting a massive "GOB" — going out of business — sale, in anticipation of a possible company-wide closure.

The Columbus, Ohio-based chain has not come out and said it is going out of business — but instead that is holding the going-out-of-business sales to protect the value of the company.

"We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale," Big Lots president and CEO Bruce Thorn said in a statement. "While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the GOB process."

The sell-off comes after a stalled sale of Big Lots to Nexus Capital Management, which was in motion after Big Lots initiated bankruptcy proceedings under Chapter 11 in September.

At that time, they executed a first round of closings — a total of 344 stores that included four in Houston. They followed that with another round of closures in October that took five more Houston-area stores.

On December 19, Big Lots determined that the sale would not be moving forward.

According to Fast Company, Big Lots did not explain why it was unable to complete a sale to Nexus, other than reports that an appraisal of Big Lots' inventory came in below expectations, which would make it unviable for Nexus Capital Management to buy the company.

While they continue to look for alternatives, the plan now is to do the GOB sale in anticipation of a company shutdown.

Fans will miss Big Lots for their good-quality furniture, household goods, seasonal items, and gourmet foodstuffs, as well as basics like cleaning products and cereal.

There are currently nine stores remaining in the greater Houston area:

Conroe, 1404 N Loop 336 W
Houston, 919 N Shepherd Dr
Houston, 9795 Westheimer Rd
Houston, 5807 E Sam Houston Pkwy N
Humble, 9669 Fm 1960 Bypass Rd W #500
Pasadena, 6804 Spencer Hwy
Porter, 23741 Hwy 59
Sugar Land, 3410 Highway 6
Webster, 1201 W Nasa Pkwy

closings

RETAIL WATCH

Bed Bath & Beyond returns to Houston via Container Store merger

The Container Store/Facebook

The Container Store is merging with Bed Bath & Beyond.

Bed Bath & Beyond is making a comeback — well, sort of. The Container Store is merging 98 of its nationwide stores with the once-mighty home goods chain, including the its Houston-area locations location in Uptown, Champions, and Friendswood.

On April 6, Bed Bath & Beyond entered into a merger agreement to purchase The Container Store for $150 million. A release says combining the two concepts’ goods will “better serve how customers live today.”

In recent years, both brands have been struggling as part of the “retail apocalypse” of big box stores. In December 2024, Coppell-based Container Store filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy without shedding any stores.

Bed Bath & Beyond, meanwhile, collapsed in summer 2023. After filing for Chapter 11, it liquidated all of its U.S. stores. It shuttered three Houston-area stores in 2020, followed by all of its remaining locations in 2023.

As part of the merger, The Container Store will be streamlining its offerings, cutting around 30 percent of its stock. Stores will be offering clearance prices on the items starting Friday, April 24. The Container Store will also be opening an hour early on April 25-26, giving early birds an extra 5 percent discount.

“This is a reset with purpose,” said Jen Pape, Senior Vice President of Stores at The Container Store, in a release. “We are actively reshaping our stores to make room for what’s next. By streamlining select categories today, we’re creating the space and flexibility needed to introduce Bed Bath & Beyond products and deliver a more complete home experience for our customers.”

The merger affects 12 Texas stores, including:

Arlington — 4000 Arlington Highlands Blvd #101
Austin — 9629 Research Blvd
Dallas — 13710 Dallas Pkwy
Dallas — 7700 W NW Hwy #500
Fairview — 151 East Stacy Rd
Fort Worth — 4601 West Fwy #500
Friendswood — 18760 Gulf Fwy
Houston — 5466 FM 1960 W
Houston — 2511 Post Oak Blvd
Plano — 8460 Parkwood Blvd
San Antonio — 333 NW Loop 410
Southlake — 1200 Main St

shopping mergers organization home goods retail