Pier One Imports Going Out of Business

[LovesTimone]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

One of my favorite stores to treat myself for something special for the house... they still carry the wine glasses that I have, so I will need to pick up some more, as well as there is a chair there that would look great in my bedroom...

I knew that they had not kept up with the times, while the stores are really nice to shop in... the prices were to high to compete with places such as Home goods, Marshalls, TJ Maxx... as well one or two people working in a store that size is just crazy...

Place's like Wayfair, and other home stores on line - I see them as not making it either.... the last couple of things that I have bought have gone right back, lots of problems - wrong color, broken, not as describe, or defective in some way... I bought some really cute nice bathroom towels, and they looked nothing like the picture, one side of towels wasn't even hemmed, and the towels were from 2 different dye lots... and very noticeable... and the embroidery wasn't completed on one of the towels.... I called to complain, and the CS rep... could have cared less, and just said... I will refund your money... and you just keep the towels... I was like no I will return them, she was like nope just keep them, you might have the virus so we don't want anything back... I was like.... well okay then...

 

[Dole_whip_doll]

I can only remember going in Pier 1 twice (ever). Once was because I received a gift card for HS graduation and I bought a hamper.
......and once because of the commercial below....I am a Christmas nut and HAD to have that figurine.

 

[Farro]

I've gotten some fantastic Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations there. A beautiful rug I bought years ago and still in good shape.
Sometimes they have some fun wall art.

I just went on and bought two candles, they didn't have much else I wanted.

I will miss the ornaments. And the fragrance oils!

 

[LilyWDW]

Not shocked. They have been having issues for YEARS. Even when I worked there quite awhile ago they were struggling. This was just finally the tipping point.

I used to love the place. Then everything just turned to junk...

 

[Christine]

I enjoy Pier 1. While you can get things similar at Home Goods (another of my favorite), IMO Pier 1 had just a touch more quality or better colors/patterns, etc then the other stores. But definitely overpriced.

For instance when I was getting velvet throw pillows for my couch, I got some at Home Goods. They were fine, but everyone complained they weren't comfortable and the feathers kept poking through and sticking people. Found some similar ones at Pier 1 and, yeah, they are just nicer all around. Also found some patterned ones for my gray sofa that are perfect and this was after a search of EVERYWHERE it seemed. My dining room rug and drapes are also from there. I also go there last, because of their prices, but ultimately when it can't be found at all the home stores and Wayfair, I can generally find what I need there.

Love their unique glassware and dishes also. Oh well.

 

[Searc]

The Pier 1 and JCP announcements were no surprise here. Both of our local Pier 1 stores closed over a year ago and the retail space has already been refilled with new businesses. The JCP at the local mall has been dangling by a thread for a couple of years now, right along with the Sears anchor store. Pretty sure Macy's is the only anchor store that was still seeing a decent amount of business before the early part of this year. It's sad, but the whole department store model has been struggling to survive for a long time.

Ron Johnson killed JcP.

 

[momto2girls]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Place's like Wayfair, and other home stores on line - I see them as not making it either....

I just read an article this morning that Wayfair has been one of the winners out of this pandemic. Their sales are way up right now. I looked around and lots of things are out of stock right now, including the patio set that I want to order. Ugh. I have never ordered from them before, but I do plan to order the set if/when it comes back in stock.


As for Pier One, I am sad. I don't really shop there for everyday stuff, but I love them for holiday decor. I am glad that I placed one last order two weeks ago for "Americana" decor. I also ordered more Easter decor in March. I knew that they were struggling though and actually told my family that I was going to order any items that I even remotely wanted because I knew that it likely wouldn't be around next year.

 

[siren0119]

Yeah Wayfair will be fine. Their HQ is in Boston and I know a couple of folks who work there, their sales were actually helped by the pandemic. Folks stuck at home decided to redecorate and could order everything from Wayfair. The big brick and mortar department stores that were already teetering on the edge well before the pandemic will be the ones that fold, but their business model was on its way out a long time ago.

 

[MillauFr]

Ron Johnson killed JcP.

I think it was already going downhill. He just stepped on the accelerator.

 

[MillauFr]

The shocking thing for me is who is loaning money to JC Penney? They have lost money for 10 years in a row. Isn't it time to face the obvious? Also why is Sears still open?

 

[GreatLakes]

A lot of our local Pier 1 stores were closing in January and February. We have a lot of their stuff in our house and liked their style. I was hoping downsizing would be enough, and without the pandemic it might have, but as much as I will miss them I'm not surprised.

JCP has never recovered from the disastrous reign of Ron Johnson. He was a case study in how to quickly erode brand value. They were having trouble before him but he really messed them up.

Sears is being purposely devalued so a venture capitalist can sell off the parts. It was a plan from day one.

 

[bcla]

@bcla I should have said that my "I used to" was back in the 80s and early 90s I went in a Cost Plus World... seemed to sanitized and boring.

I remember Cost Plus back in the 80s and 90s. I didn't go there much since I didn't really have much money to spend as a student.

 

[Micca]

Haven't been in a Pier 1 since 2012 when we bought a coffee table there. I see Target making a move to promote their home furnishings, I suspect they'll end up with a piece of the Pier 1 consumers, . As noted Wayfair will thrive, but some people need to physically see and touch things when shopping, I think that's where Target will see a bump in biz.

 

[Christine]

Haven't been in a Pier 1 since 2012 when we bought a coffee table there. I see Target making a move to promote their home furnishings, I suspect they'll end up with a piece of the Pier 1 consumers, . As noted Wayfair will thrive, but some people need to physically see and touch things when shopping, I think that's where Target will see a bump in biz.

I've bought several things from Wayfair as a gamble and, I agree, I am probably one of those people who need to touch and see for some things. I've also found that there is a decent markup on Wayfair items. They change the brand and name on things so you can't readily search the internet for a better price. For instance, I wanted a wall-mounted Jerdon makeup mirror (just like the Grand Floridian has). Bed, Bath and Beyond had the best price on it but was out of stock all the time. Wayfair had the same mirror but with some weird brand name on it. It was about $30 higher in price. I did order it because I needed it for my bathroom reno and when it arrived it was a Jerdon mirror. Same one as on BBB, but more expensive.

Found the same thing with a bathroom light fixture. But I guess it doesn't matter; people really like the convenience of ordering online and may not have too much of a care for price or quality.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Pier 1 Filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in Feb. Ones around here were doing deep discounts back then (it might have been store closing sales for at least 1 or 2 store locations here). Sister-in-law went shopping there a couple of times during that but most items were still quite pricey.

Their issue was they were unable to find a buyer to try and stave off going completely under.

I know people criticized JCP for paying execs bonuses but they are between a rock and a hard place and not entirely unrelated to Pier 1's issue--cease to exist completely because no one wants to lead the company without any incentive (and in Pier 1's case no buyer) or at least attempt to stay in business long enough to see any money will come in. The people who lose out the most here are the employees. So now all employees for Pier 1 are going to lose their jobs. I would hate for that to happen to JCP employees (though if honest it's a matter of time likely here).

 

[MillauFr]

Sears is being purposely devalued so a venture capitalist can sell off the parts. It was a plan from day one.

But the parts have eroded in value since Lampert took over. He should have just stuck to investing and would have done much better than he did with Sears. I'm just questioning how is it still even open?

 

[MillauFr]

So now all employees for Pier 1 are going to lose their jobs. I would hate for that to happen to JCP employees (though if honest it's a matter of time likely here).

Yes it is the employees that will lose out. Hopefully some can get into retraining programs. Before the virus we were desperate for more employees in Seattle. Amazon had 11,000 open positions in the city. Many of my construction projects get delayed because contractors can't hire enough labor. I work for a local city and even though many of our jobs pay $100k+ we struggle to get applicants.

 

[Hikergirl]

I'm not surprised, they announced a 15% reduction in stores last year.
COVID and the shutdown just made the inevitable happen sooner rather than later.

 

[robinb]

RIP Papasan Chair.

 

[_19disnA]

Have purchased many items online from both Wayfair and Overstock and always been very pleased and found them to be very reputable. Typically, there are just online warehouse stores who sell many items you can find at other places as well. Shop around for who has the best price & shipping & perhaps offering some kind of sale to get the best deals. On the name-brand items, I typically found that most of these merchants sell it for the same price.