Add Pier 1 Imports to list of the pandemic’s victims
Bankruptcy filing fails to preserve the Fort Worth-based chain
DALLAS — Pier 1 Imports, one of the original home furnishing stores that expanded throughout the U.S. starting in the 1960s, is liquidating it business as soon as it can get its stores open again.
The Fort Worth-based home furnishings retailer filed for bankruptcy in February and was trying to reorganize around about 450 stores, or find a buyer who would keep the business alive.
The coronavirus pandemic dashed those hopes.
Pier 1 is “left with no choice” but to sell all its remaining assets, attorneys for the company wrote in court papers.
“It is now clear that Pier 1’s future does not involve any brick-and-mortar retail locations,” they said.
Pier 1 said Tuesday it has filed a motion with the bankruptcy court to approve “an orderly wind-down of the company’s retail operations as soon as reasonably possible after store location are able to reopen” following governmentmandated closures.
The company said in a statement Tuesday that it intends to sell its inventory and remaining assets, including its intellectual property and e-commerce business, through the court-supervised process.
The decision follows months of working to identify a buyer, said Robert Riesbeck, Pier 1’s CEO.
“Unfortunately, the challenging retail environment has been significantly compounded by the profound impact of COVID-19, hindering our ability to secure such a buyer and requiring us to wind down,” he said.
Pier 1 announced in February that it planned to shutter seven stores in the Houston area — half of its local footprint. The company lists 14 stores in the Houston area and Beaumont.
Pier 1 was founded in 1962 in San Mateo, Calif., and moved to Fort Worth in 1966. It became one of the largest U.S. home furnishings specialty stores with 1,100 locations and sales of nearly $2 billion. At its height, Pier 1 had more than 1,200 stores.
For generations, particularly for the baby boomers, it was
the go-to store for adding a layer of personal style to a dorm room, new apartment or house.
Pier 1 graduated from its original beanbag and papasan chairs, love beads and incense — its peace and love days — to offering unique home furnishings and decorative accessories under its own private label.
In the 1990s, it expanded into the U.K. and Mexico with boutiques inside Sears stores.
It shut down its online business in 2007 and relaunched it in 2012. That gap online as shoppers were gravitating to shopping from home was one decision that some say hurt the retailer.
More recently, competition was fierce in home furnishings not only from Wayfair and Amazon online, but also as Walmart and Target improved merchandise. At the same time, competitors moved into more markets. Ikea opened more stores and T.J. Maxx’s HomeGoods rapidly expanded.
Other chains that have failed to connect with customers have filed for bankruptcy protection recently, including J.C. Penney and J.Crew.
Riesbeck thanked employees and vendors who stuck with the company knowing the outcome was never certain.
“We deeply value our associates, customers, business partners and the communities in which we operate,” he said. “This is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve.”
Since store-closing sales can’t be held until state-mandated lockdowns are lifted, the retailer is seeking court permission to pay employees severance and bonuses to discourage them from leaving before the chain can wind down.
Pier 1 asked its bankruptcy judge to set an auction on July 8 for its its intellectual property and e-commerce business, other court papers show.
Pier 1 has 53 stores in Texas and about 900 stores in the U.S. and Canada. Many of those stores already have permanently closed as part of the retailer’s original efforts to reorganize.