Big Lots is closing its last retail location in Clark County, the company announced in a recent court filing.
There is no date for the closure of the Orchards store, 11696 N.E. 76th St. The store, which opened in 2019 after a Safeway moved out, anchors a strip mall that includes a Dollar Tree and several small businesses.
The Ohio-based retailer closed its east Vancouver location near New Seasons in Fisher’s Landing earlier this year.
Another Big Lots was previously located in the Vancouver Village shopping center near Vancouver Mall, but it closed in 2012.
Big Lots joins the growing number of national brands shuttering locations in Clark County. Dollar Tree and Party City closed east Vancouver locations earlier this year, while brands including The Body Shop and Bed Bath and Beyond have closed all locations nationwide.
Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sept. 9, with investment firm Nexus Capital Management acting as a “stalking horse bidder.” The finance term describes a bidder who will establish a low-end bidding bar so other bidders can’t underbid the purchase price for a bankrupt company.
Despite the rash of corporate retail bankruptcies, Clark County’s retail vacancy rate has still been well below the national rate, 10.3 percent in the third quarter, according to Moody’s Analytics.
Clark County’s rate has been closer to 3 percent.
As chain stores have moved out, others have moved in.
Trader Joe’s opened a third Clark County store last month at the former Bed Bath and Beyond in east Vancouver. Urban Air Adventure Park recently opened in what used to be a Walmart Neighborhood Market at Vancouver Plaza. And Japanese discount retailer Daiso opened recently in two previously empty storefronts.
Mark Osborne, chief real estate officer at Vancouver-based C.E. John, told The Columbian earlier this year that Washington and Clark County are attractive to a variety of global, regional and local companies. C.E. John owns several hundred thousand square feet of commercial real estate in the county, almost all of which is leased.
