BRADLEY — The decision to close more than 900 Big Lots stores across the country will leave a hole in Bradley.

The 50,000-square-foot store in Bradley, 185 N. Kennedy Drive, has been open for several years when it took over 30,000 square feet of the former Festival Foods grocery store.

Then in September 2017, the store expanded by another 20,000 square feet at the site. The expansion allowed the retailer to offer a larger line of furniture, mattresses, groceries and seasonal merchandise.

And now it appears there might soon be a going-out-of-business sale in the near future.

Bradley Mayor Mike Watson said Friday any business loss is detrimental, but believes an entity will find the location appealing.

“It’s a disappointment they couldn’t work things out. But it may offer an opportunity and a challenge,” he said.

Located near the Papa Johns Pizza at 195 Kennedy Drive, the loss will put a major vacancy in the shopping complex located immediately east of the Perry Farm property operated through the Bourbonnais Township Park District.

The Bradley store is one of 17 in Illinois. As of this past week, Big Lots had 963 stores nationwide.

In addition to Bradley, there are Illinois stores in Mattoon, Peoria, Decatur, Danville, Alton, Franklin Park and Moline, among others.

In July, Big Lots announced the closure of stores in Crest Hill, Lockport and Niles. Then in September, the closure of six more Illinois stores was announced, including Calumet City, Elgin and Burbank.

Discount retailer Big Lots has launched “going out of business” sales at all of its remaining locations after a deal to save the company from bankruptcy collapsed.

Big Lots announced the decision Thursday, three months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company has already closed more than 400 stores in 2024.

“We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale,” CEO Bruce Thorn said in a press release. “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.”

In its bankruptcy announcement, Big Lots said it has been hurt by rising inflation and interest rates. In the months prior, the retailer closed hundreds of stores in an effort to cut costs.

Still, 963 Big Lots stores remained operational as of Thursday, including the Bradley site, 50 in New York, 18 in New Jersey and 6 in Connecticut. The company said it would continue selling furniture, home décor and various other items through the bankruptcy process.

Big Lots’ original plan was a sale to Los Angeles-based hedge fund Nexus Capital Management. And while a sale is still possible, the initial plan did not work.

Nexus Capital previously purchased Dollar Shave Club from Unilever in 2023 and brought floral delivery service FTD out of bankruptcy in 2019.

Big Lots was founded in 1967.