The Farmington Big Lots, seen on Friday, Dec. 27, in the Mt. Blue Plaza in Farmington is undergoing liquidation after it was reported earlier this month that a sale had fallen through. It was announced Saturday that a sale had been agreed to for some Big Lots stores, but it was not known if Farmington is one of them. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser
FARMINGTON — The future of the Big Lots store in the Mt. Blue Plaza in Farmington was not known Monday morning, Dec. 30.
According to a report on WGME, Big Lots announced on Saturday it had agreed to a sale transaction enabling the transfer of its assets to other retailers. The agreed-upon sale with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners will facilitate the transfer of Big Lots assets including stores, distribution centers, and intellectual property to retailers including Variety Wholesalers, which operates more than 400 retail stores in the southeast and mid-Atlantic United States, the report noted. Variety Wholesalers anticipates acquiring 200-400 Big Lots stores and plans to operate them under the Big Lots brand, it added.
On Friday The Franklin Journal spoke with Angela McKenna, manager for the Farmington Big Lots. “We are closing,” she said. “We do not have a definite close date. They are estimating it could take anywhere between 12-14 weeks. We are just unsure right now.”
McKenna said she had no new information, there were court dates coming up this week and on Jan. 7. “So hopefully we will get some good news but as of right now, no,” she noted. “Gordon Brothers is in here, they are our liquidator, have a rep that is assisting us in the liquidation and we are going to be marking down weekly.”
On Friday, food items remained at their regular prices while other departments featured discounts of 10-25%. Some Christmas items were 50% off.
“The employees have been left, kind of,” McKenna said. “It was very quick, very sudden and unexpected for the entire company.”
Attempts to reach McKenna on Sunday and Monday regarding the status of the Farmington store were not successful.
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