Big Lots reopens 200-plus stores, including 13 in Georgia

Big Lots has brought 219 stores back into operation, including 13 in Georgia, after a bankruptcy process that pushed the chain to the edge and then kept it alive under new ownership. The reopening is giving workers a clearer path back to selling hours and local hiring, but the company is still running the brand in phased waves rather than as a fully reset chain.

The revival traces back to Big Lots’ Chapter 11 filing on Sept. 9, 2024, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Judge J. Kate Stickles approved the sale of substantially all of the company’s assets to Gordon Brothers Retail Partners on Dec. 31, 2024, and the transaction closed on Jan. 3, 2025. Variety Wholesalers then took over 219 Big Lots stores and two distribution centers, preserving a nameplate that had looked likely to disappear.

The reopening started on April 10, 2025, with nine stores in six states. Big Lots added 132 stores in May 2025 and another 78 on June 5, bringing the total reopened to 219 by the end of that phase. That staggered schedule mattered on the ground: stores did not come back all at once, so staffing, training, truck flow and register coverage had to be rebuilt market by market instead of in a single corporate reset.

Georgia became one of the clearest test cases. Five stores reopened there on May 15, 2025, in Dallas, Marietta, Smyrna, Buford and Vidalia. The company added three more Georgia locations on June 5 in LaGrange, Covington and Statesboro, and by July 2026 local reporting said Big Lots had 13 open stores in the state. For employees, that kind of rollout can mean uneven schedules early on, with some stores stabilizing faster than others depending on how quickly inventory and labor catch up.

Variety Wholesalers said the stores would begin as soft launches, with merchandise built up over time rather than arriving fully stocked on day one. The company also said a grand opening celebration would come later in the fall. It described the revived stores as having remodeled interiors, closeout deals and new categories such as apparel and electronics, a mix that suggests the chain is trying to look more like a rebuilt discount retailer than a straight line back to its old model.

Big Lots’ official store locator currently lists 219 locations nationwide, and local market listings are handling store hours and hiring. The broader retail fight around the chain is still visible too: Ollie’s Bargain Outlet moved to pick up former Big Lots leases during the collapse, a reminder that the battle for discount shoppers and empty boxes is far from settled.