The Big Lots store in Bellingham’s Birchwood neighborhood is closing, which could free up space for a new supermarket in what is now considered a food desert.
According to a banner on the local Big Lots website and signs on the storefront, the home goods store at 1650 Birchwood Ave. will be closing, but there is no information on when the doors will close for good. In June, the Ohio-based company filed a quarterly report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission detailing its financial challenges. The report indicated that the retailer planned to close up to 40 of its nearly 1,400 stores around the country. There are 26 Big Lots locations in Washington.
The Big Lots outlet in Bellingham opened in 2019 at the site of a former Albertsons grocery store, relocating from its original spot next door. Since the Albertsons closed in 2016, the Birchwood neighborhood has been considered a food desert, because a percentage of the population lives more than one mile from a supermarket and does not have easy access to fresh and affordable food.
The grocery store retailer blocked another grocery store from going into its former location when it was sold in 2018, a move deemed illegal by the state attorney general in June. The grassroots advocacy group Birchwood Food Desert Fighters is working to reestablish food access in the community.
“While BFDF is excited that there is the potential for a grocery store to move back into the neighborhood sooner than we expected, we are sad for the employees who will be losing their jobs at a longtime neighborhood business,” wrote Birchwood Food Desert Fighters organizer Tina McKim in an email.
“We urge whomever moves into the new location to prioritize hiring these employees, many of whom live in the neighborhood,” McKim added. “Our continued hope is that the new tenant is an affordable, accessible grocer who provides good jobs and the kinds of culturally appropriate foods Birchwood needs.”
The Big Lots store manager in Bellingham declined to comment on the closure. The phone number for media and investor inquiries posted on the Big Lots website is invalid. The corporate office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The property is owned by Value Investment Group, based in British Columbia.
This story was updated at 2:20 p.m. on July 19 to include comment from BFDF.
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
