Big Lots to close Machesney Park store amid bankruptcy proceedings

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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MACHESNEY PARK — National discount retailer Big Lots plans to shutter its store at the Machesney Town Center as part of its latest round of closures as it restructures in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The company listed in a bankruptcy filing 56 stores in 27 states that it would close. That list includes the nearly 30,000-square-foot store at 8750 N. Second St., the former Machesney Park Mall.

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The local Big Lots closure is one of two in Illinois, with the company also planning to close its Decatur store. About 30 miles north, Big Lots will close its Janesville, Wisconsin, store as well.

Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 9 as it prepared for the court-supervised sale of the company to private equity firm Nexus Capital Management.

A month earlier, Big Lots had announced plans to close 315 stores.

“Though the majority of our store locations are profitable, we intend to move forward with a more focused footprint to ensure that we operate efficiently and are best positioned to serve our customers,” Bruce Thorn, Big Lots president and CEO, said in September. “To accomplish this, we intend to use the tools afforded by this process to continue optimizing our store fleet in an orderly manner.”

Big Lots opened here in late March 2011 as the village was redeveloping the former Machesney Park Mall into what’s now called the Machesney Town Center. The store had moved from its home in the Meadow Mart Shopping Center in Loves Park.

The Machesney Park Town Center is also home to Nestory Park Self Storage, Benny’s @ Nest, Burlington Coat Factory, Experity, Maximum Axe Throwing, PCI Pharma Services and Menta Academy Northwest.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas