COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW) -- Big Lots, which this week announced going-out-of-business sales at all its locations, also plans to permanently lay off up to 555 employees from its Columbus corporate headquarters. The retailer issued a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act notice to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther on Thursday. Big Lots to begin going-out-of-business sales at all locations The layoffs are expected to begin the week of Dec. 29 and be completed by April 2025, according to the notice. The laid-off positions are not unionized. The Ohio-based retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this year. Executives earlier this year said inflation and competition from other retailers cast "substantial doubt" on its ability to stay in business, Nexstar reported. Though it had previously announced an asset sale to a capital management firm to keep from going under, that deal has since fallen through, according to a Thursday news release. The retailer is still working to sell the Big Lots brand and keep some of its remaining stores operating under new ownership -- what's called a "going concern" sale -- and hope to complete that sale by the end of January 2025. “We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale. 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 [going-out-of-business] process," President and CEO Bruce Thorn is quoted in the release. House passes bill to avert government shutdown after whirlwind funding fight The retailer earlier this year announced the closure of hundreds of stores, Nexstar reported, including several stores in Ohio: Aurora Blue Ash Cincinnati Dayton Defiance Newark Saint Marys Sandusky Toledo West Chester Big Lots has more than 100 locations remaining in Ohio, including more than two dozen in Northeast Ohio, which will soon be selling off stock. Find your local Big Lots on the retailer's website.