Pier 1 Files For Bankruptcy, Will Close All Of Its Stores

FORT WORTH, TX — 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. The company intends to sell its inventory and remaining assets, including its intellectual property and e-commerce business, through the court-supervised process.

The company has multiple locations in Alabama, including one along U.S. 280 in Birmingham, two in Huntsville and another in Daphne. The retailer had already closed five stores in Alabama earlier this year.

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

"We are grateful to our dedicated and hardworking associates, millions of customers and committed vendors who have collectively supported Pier 1 for decades," said Robert Riesbeck, Pier 1’s chief executive officer and chief financial officer. "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."