Container Store

The Container Store Group, Inc., is an American specialty retail chain which offers storage and organization products, and custom closets.

History

The Container Store was founded in Dallas by Garrett Boone and John Mullen. With the backing of their families, they inaugurated the first The Container Store on July 1, 1978. The store introduced a new retailing category: home storage and organization.Hoover's Inc. fact sheet on The Container Store
/ref> Kip Tindell and his wife joined the founding team the next year.

In 1982, the company switched to a computerized management system, which almost drove the company into the ground. The Houston store opening in 1988 marked the start of the company's booming sales. It opened its first location out of Texas in 1991 in Atlanta, Georgia, its first NY store in 2000, and its first LA store in 2006. In 1999, The Container Store bought one of its main suppliers, Elfa International, a Swedish corporation that specialized in shelving and storage units.

The founders hired by the dozen but realized they also needed a strong company culture to maintain the spirit and attractiveness of their stores. The company started giving 235 hours of training time to its new salespeople, ten times the industry average. By the early 2000s, The Container Store had become a regular recipient of the Best Company to Work For in America award delivered by ''Fortune''.

In July 2007, The Container Store sold a majority stake of the company to the private equity firm based in Los Angeles Leonard Green & Partners."Container Store put on market: Retailer wants to use equity but preserve workplace culture,"
''The Dallas Morning News''/KRT, February 17, 2007 Following the deal, The Container Store announced plans to open 29 more stores in the next five years. In 2013, the retailer was one of the hottest IPOs of 2013. However, according to ''Forbes'', "the Container Store is a far cry from the 300 store potential investors were promised in the IPO." Since 2013, only 30 stores were added, or about 5 per year. The Container Store has not kept its promise to investors "to be the category killer of storage containers and home organization."

In 2016, Kip Tindell stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Melissa Reiff. In 2021, Satish Malhotra replaced Melissa Reiff as CEO and president of the company. That year, the company reached the billion-dollar mark in revenue for the first time in its history and acquired Closet Works for $21.5 million. In 2024, Beyond Inc. (formerly Overstock Inc., owner of Bed Bath & Beyond since 2023) invested $40 million in The Container Store in a deal where Bed Bath & Beyond showcase spaces were to be integrated in The Container Store, marking Bed Bath & Beyond's return to physical stores.

On December 23, 2024, The Container Store filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, expecting to complete reorganization and emerge as a private company by January 26, 2025, without closing any stores in the process. In January 24, 2025, The Container Store received court approval from a bankruptcy judge regarding its bankruptcy plan to go private. The company emerged from bankruptcy on January 28, 2025 after successfully eliminating most of its debt. The conversion of lender debt into company equity under the approve restructuring plan took The Container Store private, and gave ownership to its term loan lenders, which include Golub Capital, LCM Asset Management and Glendon Capital Management.

Growth

Governance

CEOs

* -2016: Kip Tindell
* 2016-2021: Melissa Reiff
* Since 2021: Satish Malhotra

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Container Store
Private equity portfolio companies
Retail companies of the United States
Companies based in Coppell, Texas
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
2013 initial public offerings
American companies established in 1978
Retail companies established in 1978
1978 establishments in Texas
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024