Big Lots is getting smaller.

The national discount retailer that sells furniture, home décor, kitchenware and other items, will close its three Colorado Springs stores and five more in Colorado as part of the financially troubled chain’s decision to shutter more than 300 locations nationwide.

Stores will close at 5085 N. Academy Blvd. in the Union Square shopping center in northern Colorado Springs; 1990 S. Academy Blvd. in Chelton Center on the southeast side; and 2975 New Center Point in the east side First & Main Town Center, according to the Big Lots website.

Signs posted in the stores’ windows Tuesday and on building facades alerted customers of the closings and that inventory was being marked down by up to 20%.

Big Lots employees who responded to customer phone calls said they didn’t know when the stores would close and that they might remain open for several weeks until all or most of their merchandise was sold.

Elsewhere in Colorado, Big Lots’ website shows it also will close stores in Aurora, Grand Junction, Greeley, Littleton and Longmont.

A second Big Lots location in Aurora, however, will remain open, along with stores in Brighton, Lakewood, Pueblo, Westminster and Wheat Ridge, the retailer’s website shows.

It wasn’t known why Big Lots will close all of its Colorado Springs stores and how many employees might lose their jobs as a result; a Gazette email and phone call to Big Lots’ corporate office in Columbus, Ohio, that sought more information went unanswered Tuesday.

A company that was a forerunner to Big Lots started in 1967; its founder, Sol Shenk, “loved making crazy closeout deals, particularly on auto parts and all kinds of vehicles,” according to the retailer’s website. 

In 1970, the company began operating as Consolidated International, which launched several brands of closeout and discount retail stores. By 2001, all the retail brands were consolidated under the Big Lots name.

Big Lots operates more than 1,300 brick-and-mortar stores in 48 states, as well as selling items online, its website shows. The chain buys closeout, unsold or discontinued merchandise and sells it at a discount; customers don’t always know what they’ll find when they walk in the door.

“The company’s mission is to help customers ‘Live Big and Save Lots’ by offering bargains to brag about on everything for their home, including furniture, décor, pantry essentials, kitchenware, pet supplies and more,” according to the website.

“We offer an extensive assortment of brand-name items and quality products, including food, furniture, seasonal items, electronics and accessories, home décor, toys and gifts,” the website also says. “Our customers may be on a tight budget, or they may just enjoy our treasure-hunt atmosphere. Either way, they love the surprise and delight they find in every aisle.”

Citing a new Big Lots filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, retail industry publication Chain Store Age reported this week that the chain is looking to close as many as 315 stores.

Likewise, Big Lots’ first-quarter financial statement for the period ending May 4 showed it saw a just over 10% decline in its first quarter sales, a similar drop in same-store sales and a net loss of $205 million for the period.

Big Lots CEO Bruce Thorn cited a “continued pullback in consumer spending by our core customers, particularly in high ticket discretionary items” for its troubled financials during the first quarter.

Big Lots is the latest brick-and-mortar retailer to shutter stores in Colorado Springs and Colorado. Last month, Conn’s HomePlus, the Texas-based electronics and furniture retailer, said it would close its Springs store and five others in the state after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

They join Sears, Kmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Stein Mart and Pier 1 Imports — among others — as retailers that have encountered tough financial times over the past few decades and downsized their brick-and-mortar presence in Colorado Springs and elsewhere.

Many of those retailers have lost sales to Amazon and other digital retailers, while their customers who used to enjoy coming into stores now shop online.