The retailer known as Big Lots is preparing to file for bankruptcy as other companies across the United States have recently done.

Individuals with knowledge of the situation said the discount home goods store may file as early as Sunday, Bloomberg reported on Friday, noting the company is planning to sell its stores through a court-supervised process.

The article continued:

The company will continue to operate under Chapter 11 protection, the people said, and is in the process of lining up a so-called stalking horse bid, meaning it’s subject to better offers should any materialize. The company has been working with advisers from AlixPartners and Guggenheim Partners on the bankruptcy and sale process.

…

Big Lots, which has around 1,400 stores and employs over 30,000 people, has suffered from declining sales for years, including in recent quarters as rising inflation squeezed the wallets of its budget-conscious shoppers. Its share price has plunged to around $0.50, after peaking above $72 in 2021.

The news comes after the restaurant chain Red Lobster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy followed by affordable gym chain Blink Fitness, and Rite Aid pharmacy closed all its stores in Michigan and Ohio amid that company’s recent bankruptcy filings.

Inflation has been plaguing Americans struggling to make ends meet in President Joe Biden’s (D) economy, and the middle class is now too poor to shop for their needs at dollar stores, Breitbart News’s John Carney reported on Wednesday.

“Dollar Tree’s latest earnings report offers a grim reflection on the state of the American economy. What we are witnessing is not just a minor fluctuation in retail performance, but a broader indictment of an economy that, under the stewardship of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, has manifestly lost its way,” Carney wrote.

“The Biden-Harris administration, with its reckless fiscal expansions and ideological hubris, has forced consumers into a corner. It was inevitable that even the affluent would feel the blow; and now, with Dollar Tree’s stock plunging nearly 25 percent, the axe has finally bitten into the grain,” he stated.