The addition of 27 new stores wasn’t enough to prevent Big Lots from reporting a 1.9% sales decline during the quarter ended October 27.

The nation’s leading closeout retailer offered a bleak outlook for the remainder of the year following worse than expected second quarter results and announced the departure of its top merchant.

Big Lots has acquired 89 Liquidation World stores in Canada and becomes the latest U.S. retailer to pursue growth opportunities north of the border.

For the first time, Big Lots is expanding its retail operations outside of the United States with the announcement that it has agreed to purchase all of the outstanding stock of Liquidation World Inc., an Ontario based retailer which operates 92 closeout stores in Canada.