Dirt Cheap stores to close after parent company files for bankruptcy

(NEXSTAR) – Dirt Cheap, a chain of “extreme value” stores with 60-plus locations across the Southeast, has filed for bankruptcy, court documents indicate. The store’s parent company filed documents with the District of Delaware last week.

The documents indicate stores will be holding “store closing” sales to be completed by the end of the year. The official social media channels of Dirt Cheap indicate that at least one store is already hosting its final sale. Another store, located near the company’s headquarters in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, also confirmed that “store closing signs are up” when contacted by Nexstar, but had no comment on other details.

The holding company behind Dirt Cheap also owns Dirt Cheap’s sister outlets, Dirt Cheap Building Supplies and Treasure Hunt, among other companies, according to the filing.

Dirt Cheap was founded in Hattiesburg before expanding throughout the Southeast to become “the largest buyer of insurance claims in the United States.” The brand’s stores are known to resell overstock or off-season merchandise from other retailers, including merchandise that had been acquired through bankruptcies or liquidations.

“Dirt Cheap is an extreme value retailer giving major brand customer returns and excess inventory a second chance,” the company says of its operations.

There are more than 60 stores across eight states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas. Dirt Cheap has been in business for more than 30 years, according to its website.

According to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Jeffrey Martin, appointed as the company’s chief restructuring officer last month, recently blamed Target for its financial struggles. Target, he claimed, had started “divesting its best returns” to a Dirt Cheap competitor.

Martin accused Target of giving the other company a better price on better secondary merchandise, leaving Dirt Cheap with lower quality merchandise at a higher price, the outlet explained. The company reportedly owes Target’s Salvage Department more than $15.6 million.

Dirt Cheap joins a growing list of retailers — more recently, Big Lots and True Value — that have filed for bankruptcy this year.