“Everything about these stores lines up well with our business and growth strategy. These locations are the right size, come with favorable lease terms, are located in existing and adjacent trade areas, and have long serviced value conscious consumers,” Eric van der Valk, president and CEO of Ollie’s, said in a release.
Big Lots closed area stores at 359 Miamisburg Centerville Road in Washington Twp. and 7779 Tylersville Road in West Chester Twp. earlier this year.
The company has stores located in Fairfield, Huber Heights, Kettering, Lebanon, Middletown, Miamisburg, Piqua, Riverside, Springdale, Springfield and Trotwood.
“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 (going out of business) process.”
The company filed a Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification, or WARN, notice late last year with Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, saying it would start the process of terminating 555 positions at Big Lots Corporate Headquarters at 4900 East Dublin Granville Road in Columbus the week of Dec. 29.
It said that process would be completed in April.
Ohio follows federal requirements under the Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires employers to provide written notice to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ Dislocated Worker Unit (Rapid Response Unit) at least 60 days in advance of covered plant closings and mass layoffs.
Big Lots had nearly 1,400 locations across 48 states. Only Alaska and Hawaii are without stores.
Ollie’s calls itself “America’s largest retailer of closeout merchandise and excess inventory” offering “extreme value on brand name products.”
The retailer operates 581 stores in 32 states, including 42 in Ohio. The company has a location near the Dayton Mall.
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