Pier 1 To Close Up To 450 Stores

Home goods retailer Pier 1 Imports announced plans yesterday to close up to 450 stores nationwide. That is roughly half of it's 942 retail locations. The company sites a multi-million dollar sales drop as the reason for the closures.

It is still unclear whether two Pier 1 Imports stores, at 1406 Twixt Town Road in Marion, and 1401 Coral Ridge Ave in Coralville, will be among the stores that are forced to shut the doors for good. A company spokesperson did not provide specific store locations during yesterday's announcement.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based company will decide on which stores to close based on what they call a comprehensive evaluation of its portfolio. The company says it will look at which locations have leases that expire soon and which landlords negotiate more favorable lease conditions. A spokesperson says that the closures will allow the company to move forward with an appropriately sized store footprint.

Pier 1 announced in April that it could close up to 145 store locations if it was unable to boost sales.

[via Gazette]