Pier 1 Imports, Inc., is an online retailer and former

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

-based retail chain specializing in imported home furnishings and decor, particularly

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

, table-top items, decorative accessories, and seasonal decor. It was

publicly traded A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

under ticker PIR. In January 2020, Pier 1 had over 1,000 physical stores throughout the United States and Canada. Pier 1 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on February 17, 2020, and on May 19, 2020, announced it was asking the bankruptcy court to close all stores, due in large part to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In July 2020, Retail ECommerce Ventures (REV) bought the rights to Pier 1 and planned to revive the brand as an ecommerce store. At the end of October 2020, Pier 1 Imports closed its remaining stores and transferred its website to REV, which is

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

Dallas-based Pier 1 Imports Online, Inc.

History

In 1962, Charles D. Tandy and Luther Henderson of the

Tandy Corporation Tandy Corporation was an American family-owned Retail, retailer based in Fort Worth, Texas that made leather goods, operated the RadioShack chain, and later built personal computers. Tandy Leather was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store ...

provided a loan to the California-based Cost Plus Imports chain in exchange for franchise rights. Their first franchised location opened that year in San Mateo. By 1966, Tandy's and Henderson's franchises had grown to 16 locations in California and Texas. They rebranded their stores Pier 1 Imports, establishing a new corporate headquarters with

Radio Shack RadioShack (formerly written as Radio Shack) is an American electronics retailer that was established in 1921 as an amateur radio mail-order business. Its parent company was purchased by Tandy Corporation in 1962, which shifted its focus from ma ...

, another Tandy holding, in

. Pier 1 went public on the

American Stock Exchange NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known ...

in 1970 and later joined the

in 1972. At this time, the company had grown to 123 stores, posted 100 percent sales gains for four consecutive years, and opened stores internationally in Australia and Europe. A Pier 1 store in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Royal Oak is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cens ...

, reached annual sales of $1 million in 1979. By 1985, the Pier 1 chain grew to 265 stores, with the management goal of doubling that number by 1990. Pier 1 had a presence in the

Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefecture, Gunma, Ibaraki Prefecture, ...

of Japan from April 1996 to early 2002, and its franchised stores were operated by Akatsuki Printing Co. There were 5 stores by early 1997, 16 by fiscal 1998, and 18 by fiscal 1999, but that number shrunk to just 9 by early 2000. On December 29, 2006,

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is co ...

bumped Pier 1 Imports Inc. down one spot and off the bottom of the S&P MidCap 400 Index when it added

Parametric Technology PTC Inc. (formerly Parametric Technology Corporation) is an American computer software and services company founded in 1985 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was a pioneer in parametric, associative feature-based, solid com ...

, a software company. As of December 2012, the company had sales of $418 million. In April 2008, Pier 1 sold its headquarters building for $104 million. In May 2017, Alasdair James became CEO following Alex Smith's departure in December 2016. In December 2018, Alasdair James was replaced by veteran CEO Cheryl Bachelder. Bachelder is served as interim CEO until the former Pier 1 CFO, Robert Riesbeck took over in November 2019. On January 6, 2020, it was announced that Pier 1 will close up to 450 stores, citing "a reduction in corporate headcount". On February 17, 2020, Pier 1 Imports, Inc. and seven affiliated companies filed

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

in the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, Hampton Roa ...

. As part of the filing, the company is closing all their stores in Canada. On May 19, 2020, Pier 1 Imports announced that it is asking the bankruptcy court to close all stores, due in large part to the

and failing to find a buyer. On May 30, it was announced that Pier 1 Imports had received court approval to liquidate all locations. Pier 1 announced that they plan to close all stores by the end of October 2020. In June 2020, Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV) acquired Pier 1 for $31 million. REV, which was founded by former NASA scientist Alex Mehr and serial entrepreneur Tai Lopez, is a holding company that buys distressed iconic brands and revives them as e-commerce businesses. Other recent acquisitions of REV include Dressbarn and Modell's Sporting Goods. REV acquired control of the Pier 1 website at the end of October 2020, just about the time the last store had closed, and moved on-line operations to Dallas. On March 2, 2023, Retail Ecommerce Ventures, Pier 1 Imports' current parent, announced that it was mulling a possible bankruptcy filing.

Merchandise

Pier 1 merchandise consists of home furnishings and accessories such as

candle A candle is an ignitable candle wick, wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a Aroma compound, fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. ...

s, vases, and picture frames as well as full-sized upholstered

, hand-carved armoires, large-scale vases and eclectic wall décor. Items are imported, created in conjunction with foreign designers, or produced by Pier 1's Trend and Product Development team.

Partnerships

Pier 1 became a corporate partner of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in 1985. As of 2013, this partnership had generated more than $42 million by selling

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

greeting card A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthday ...

cause marketing Cause marketing is marketing done by a for-profit business that seeks to both increase profits and to better society in accordance with corporate social responsibility, such as by including activist messages in advertising. A similar phrase, cau ...

, and emergency relief for Afghanistan, Haiti, and Iraq, as well as areas affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami. Former spokespeople for the company, seen largely in broadcast commercials, include ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...

'' alumna Kirstie Alley and Thom Filicia of ''

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy ''Queer Eye'' is an American reality television series that premiered on the Bravo (American TV network), Bravo network in July 2003, initially broadcast as ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy''. The series was created by executive producers David ...

''.

Gallery

File:Pier 1 Imports store in Tanasbourne - Hillsboro, Oregon (2013).jpg, A Pier 1 Imports store in Oregon Image:Pier 1 imports Pittsfield Twp.JPG, A Pier 1 Imports store, Pittsfield Township, Michigan. The store closed in 2015. Image:pier1tall.jpg, The Pier One headquarters building in Fort Worth, now being re-developed as the city's future City Hall.

References

External links