PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Two major chains are closing storefronts in the Berkshires in the coming year.

 

Big Lots announced on Thursday it would liquidate its assets after a purchase agreement with a competitor fell through. 

 

"We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale," Bruce Thorn, Big Lots' president and CEO, said in the announcement. "While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the GOB process."

 

The closeout retailer moved into the former Price Rite Marketplace on Dalton Avenue in 2021. The grocery had been in what was originally the Big N for 14 years before closing eight months after a million-dollar remodel. Big Lots had previously been in the Allendale Shopping Center.

 

Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September. It operated nearly 1,400 stores nationwide but began closing more than 300 by August with plans for another 250 by January. The Pittsfield location had not been amount the early closures. 

 

Its website puts the current list of stores at 960 with 17 in Massachusetts. Most are in the eastern part of the state with the closest in Pittsfield and Springfield. 

 

Advanced Auto Parts, with three locations in the Berkshires, is closing 500 stores and 200 independently owned locations by about June. 

 

The North Adams store has had a "going out of business" for weeks and one of the Pittsfield stores is also slated for closure.