Retailer Pier 1 to Close All 540 Remaining Stores

Retailer Pier 1 to Close All 540 Remaining Stores

Pier 1 Imports announced Tuesday that it has filed a motion seeking Bankruptcy Court approval to begin an orderly wind-down of the company’s retail operations.

It will liquidate its remaining 540 stores once they reopen after coronavirus-driven lockdowns.

This ends the 58-year legacy of selling glassware, wicker furniture, and home design.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

This is the fourth major retailer to announce bankruptcy in the past three weeks -- Neiman Marcus, JC Penney, and J.Crew were the others.

Pier 1's Plans

As part of the wind-down, the company intends to sell its inventory and remaining assets, including its intellectual property and e-commerce business, through the court-supervised process.

The retailer has one remaining store in Rhode Island located in Warwick and five other stores in southern New England

Robert Riesbeck, Pier 1’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer said, “We are grateful to our dedicated and hardworking associates, millions of customers and committed vendors who have collectively supported Pier 1 for decades. We deeply value our associates, customers, business partners and the communities in which we operate, and this is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve.

This decision follows months of working to identify a buyer who would continue to operate our business going forward. 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.”

According to the company’s announcement, “together with its financial and legal advisors, Pier 1 engaged in a thorough analysis of all available alternatives prior to deciding on this course of action. Ultimately, due to the combination of a challenging retail environment and the new reality and uncertainty of a post-COVID world, the Company and its advisors determined that an orderly wind-down is the best way to maximize the value of Pier 1’s assets.”

Pier 1 intends to initiate store closing efforts and liquidation sales once store locations can reopen, in compliance with COVID-19 guidelines from local government and health officials. The Company is currently continuing to serve customers through Pier1.com, and orders are being processed and filled.

Pier 1 expects to conduct its asset sales pursuant to the bidding procedures established by the Court on February 18, 2020. The Company has proposed July 1, 2020 as the asset bid deadline, July 8, 2020 as the auction date and July 15, 2020 as the sale hearing date.