Pier 1 Imports, With 3 East Bay Stores, Closing Up To 450 Sites

EAST BAY, CA — Pier 1 Imports, which has eight locations in the Bay Area, including three in the East Bay, is closing hundreds of stores, the company announced Monday. The retail chain said up to 450 locations — about half of its total — would be closed to “better align its business with the current operating environment.”

The company based in Fort Worth, Texas, plans to close certain distribution centers — the Southern California city of Ontario is home to one of six Pier 1 warehouse/distribution centers in the United States — and lower its corporate spending, as well as lay off workers at the corporate level.

The home furnishing store is using a third-party liquidator to help with the closings, noting that its lenders signed off on its plan to reduce its brick-and-mortar footprint.

Robert Riesbeck, CEO and CFO of the retail chain, thanked store workers for their hard work and commitment to serving customers.

“Although decisions that impact our associates are never easy, reducing the number of our brick-and-mortar locations is a necessary business decision,” he said in a statement.

The planned closures come as the company deals with less foot traffic.

Net sales for the third quarter plummeted more than 13 percent to $358.4 million. That number was $413.2 million in the same quarter for the previous fiscal year. Company comparable sales fell more than 11 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

Here are the locations in the East Bay and Bay Area:

• Concord: 1975 Diamond Blvd.
• Dublin: 4976 Dublin Blvd.
• Vacaville: 2070 Harbison Drive
• Santa Rosa: 2716 Santa Rosa Ave.
• Antioch: 5739 Lone Tree Way
• Capitola: 3825 Clares St.
• San Jose: 1009 Blossom Hill Road
• Gilroy: 6835 Camino Arroyo

Last fall, Pier 1 announced up to 145 stores closings were possible in coming months.

Founded with a single location in 1962, Pier 1 Imports currently operates 936 stores in the United States.

Patch has reached out to the company for a list of stores closing and will update when we hear back.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.