The Big Lots store on Harrison Street is pictured. P-J file photo by Christopher Blakeslee

Big Lots officials were supposed to discuss the retailer’s second quarter earnings last week before postponing the release of its financial information.

It has instead declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a sale to private equity firm Nexus Capital Management. Earnings will be released on Thursday.

Operations at stores in Dunkirk and Jamestown aren’t expected to be affected yet by the bankruptcy announcement and sale though more store closings than originally anticipated are scheduled. In connection with the court-supervised bankruptcy process, Big Lots has secured commitments for $707.5 million of financing, including $35 million in new financing from some current lenders. Potential court-approved financing facilities coupled with cash from ongoing store sales are expected to provide sufficient liquidity to support Big Lots through the sale process.

In June Big Lots officials announced in an SEC filing that it expected to close between 35 and 40 stores across the country. But an audit of the retailer’s website by Advance Newspapers, which include Masslive.com and the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, reveal almost 300 stores across the country are expected to close this year. That’s roughly 21% of Big Lots’ stores, including 75 in California alone. There are 10 closures scheduled for New York state, including two in Buffalo.

As part of the court-supervised sale process, the company is continuing to assess its operational footprint, which will include closing additional store locations. The company will also continue to evaluate and optimize its distribution center model.

“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,” said Bruce Thorn, Big Lots CEO. “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 has also filed a number of customary motions seeking court approval to continue supporting its operations, including continued payment of employee wages and benefits, and payments to certain critical vendors in the ordinary course of business. The company anticipates receiving court approval for these requests and expects to pay vendors in full under normal terms for any goods and services provided after the filing.

Under the terms of the sale agreement, Nexus will serve as the “stalking horse bidder” in a court-supervised auction process pursuant to section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Accordingly, the proposed transaction is subject to higher or otherwise better offers, court approval, and other conditions. The sale could be completed before the end of the year.

In a news release Monday, company officials said financial performance has improved, but not enough to offset high inflation and interest rates that have hurt business as consumers have pulled back on home and seasonal product purchases, two categories the chain depends on for a significant part of its revenue.

“Despite a challenging consumer environment and financial pressures facing our business, we are pleased to have achieved underlying comp sales, gross margin, and operating expenses in line with our guidance. Underlying comp sales improved sequentially relative to (the first quarter) on a year-over-year basis and gross margins significantly improved, driven in part by advancing our five key actions, particularly through increasing our extreme bargain offerings. Additionally, (the third quarter) to date is off to a good start, with a significant sequential improvement in underlying comp sales relative to (the second quarter), as well as underlying gross margin expansion versus last year. We expect the positive momentum to continue into the back half of the year,” Thorn said in the news release.