As companies like Amazon, Walmart, TJ Maxx, and Wayfair continue to expand into home goods, it’s getting harder for Pier 1 Imports to compete.
In its most recent quarterly earnings release on Wednesday, the brand reported that comparable sales had fallen 10.5%.
“For non-shoppers, shoppers that are very engaged in this category, but don’t currently shop with Pier 1, and for some of our less core customers, they describe our stores as being overwhelming,” former CEO Alasdair James, who stepped down on Wedendsay, said in an April analyst meeting.
Interim CEO Cheryl A. Bachelder, a member of the company’s board of directors, said on Wednesday’s earnings call: “It’s become clear that we are not giving our Pier 1 customer the style, the value, the selection that she wants to find in our stores and online. The sector is performing well. So, we know the opportunity is there for Pier 1.”
Analysts have criticized the retailer for not stocking enough unique inventory.
GlobalData Retail’s Neil Saunders wrote in an email to Retail Dive in April: “While the market is growing, so too is competition. As much as it is true that Pier 1’s aesthetic used to make it distinct, others are now replicating this — at least in parts of their offers.”
In the company’s earnings call in June, James explained how the brand plans to combat these issues by rebranding Pier 1 and offering more trendy pieces that would appeal to millennials. He also discussed the importance of improving the shopping experience in-store. The retailer is currently testing new store formats that have wider aisles and less clutter in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
But on in October, James said: “Our second quarter financial results reflect execution challenges around our August brand re-launch and our ‘New Day’ strategic plan initiatives [are] taking longer than expected to gain traction.”
We recently visited a Pier 1 Imports store in New York City and found many of the critiques of the brand to be true. Here’s what we saw: