The Big Lots store in Centralia is closing.
No exact closure date has been given. The store is one of 289 closures nationwide closures as the company struggles with dropping sales. Eight other stores in Illinois are also included on the list including Fairview Heights and seven others in the Chicago area.
The Centralia store is beginning its going-out-of-business sale with a 20-percent storewide discount.
The store in the Fairview Shopping Center was originally built as the JC Penny’s store when they moved from downtown. It also housed Goody’s before becoming a Big Lots store.
Centralia Economic Development Director Derek Sherman was asked earlier this year to work with shopping center owner Ipanema on statistics to try and build a case for Big Lots to stay after their current lease expires at the end of the year.
An official of Ipanema was not immediately available to discuss any potential new tenants for the building. Sherman says the store has 35,000 square feet.
Big Lots reported sales down 10 percent during the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of 2023. The 289 store closures represent 21 percent of all the stores operated by Big Lots.
