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We visited a Pier 1 store that's preparing to shutter and found its closing sale confusing and disorganized
We visited a Pier 1 store that's preparing to shutter and found its closing sale confusing and disorganized
Yuru (Priscilla) ZhuJan 22, 2020, 01:02 IST
Pier 1 Imports revealed earlier this month that it plans to close up to 450 stores, about half of its total locations. The closures could affect thousands of workers.
We visited a closing Pier 1 store in Queens, New York, and saw uncompetitive discounts along with confusing layouts and signs.
However, there were some hidden steals that neither customers nor workers knew about until they checked in the system.
More stores are closing in 2020, and about half of Pier 1 Imports' locations are among them.
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Struggling to find its place under mounting competition from retailers such as Wayfair and Walmart, Pier 1 Imports revealed earlier this month a plan to close up to 450 of its 942 stores, which could impact thousands of workers. Though the chain has not revealed the exact stores that are closing, Business Insider made a list that relied in part on data from the research firm AggData.
We went to a store on the list last week and found its closing sale uncompetitive and somewhat disorganized.
Two weeks into the sale, the discounts we found were similar to - or even less competitive than - those we saw during its semi-annual sale last summer. Some prices were not shown on tags and signs, leaving shoppers to guess at whether it was a bargain or not.
We went to a closing Pier 1 store in Queens, New York. On the way there, we spotted a lot of competing chains in the neighborhood.
The store is not big, but the huge, bright sale signs made it pretty noticeable. The discount seemed fair for a closing sale that just started two weeks ago, but it was lower than the semi-annual sale we visited over the summer, when there was up to 70% off on almost every item.
The store was still packed with goods. Workers reloaded items once they saw an empty space.
Though it appeared organized at first sight, the true condition of the store turned out to be the opposite as we looked closer.
The entrance area was crammed with a bit of everything. We saw signs advertising discounts for all categories, red signs with 20% off for living room items, blue with 25% off for shelving, and green with 30% off for dining chairs.
We could only find one or two applicable items near the signs. We wondered where the rest were.
Some dining chairs just stood in the middle of the passageway.
There were almost no signs telling customers what kind of items a rack held, except for one saying "table top" and one saying "decor."
Still, the pieces of decor were not all on their racks. This wall decor was left on the floor in the glassware area, with no discount sign around. We later found more of these in another area marked 20% off.
Though banners promoted a 20-40% off sale, most of the items were around 20% off. This included furniture pieces like the retailer's famous Papasan chairs and small items like dinnerware and glassware, which occupied about a third of the store.
These fancy-looking glasses seemed to be selling well, as their shelf was probably the emptiest. One cost $8.76 before tax after the 20% discount.
Rarely did we see purple signs promoting the relatively big discount of 40%. See those small purple spots in the background?
We also noticed two 40% off bar chairs here, in an area where other items had been marked 30% off.
The identical detailed chart on each sign was largely useless when it came to large items. For example, all shelvings in the store were above $150, which was the highest price listed on the chart.
What made it more confusing was that even though the sign said 25% off, all items around it had 20% off price tags.
Same thing here. We didn't find any 30% off wall art near this sign, but there were some in the back corner of the store.
Here are some expensive rugs. We couldn't find the discounts until we spotted more of them in another area.
We noticed on the tags that most discounts had increased by only 5-10% in the past two weeks.
Still, the sale appeared to attract a lot of shoppers. Most of them seemed only interested in small items, which was understandable. The discount on large items were hardly a bargain.
Some items were wrapped in packing papers, ready to be taken away.
Besides the boxes and packaging, we were constantly reminded of the closing sale by the huge banners that could be spotted from every corner.
We saw a small clearance area at the back of the store. There were not many items, though most were in good condition. We noticed that most clearance items were 30-60% off their regular price.
However, there were some hidden gems in the clearance area. We found this cute tablecloth that had no price tag on it. It turned out to be only $2.48 with an extra 60% off. Who knew there was an extra 60% off? Apparently no one, not even the workers, who congratulated me on the steal.
There were also a few items in the main area that came with bigger discounts, but they could easily be missed. This one sat in a corner.
Big banners in the store also stated clearly that this sale was limited to "this location only." "Not every Pier 1 is closing. It's great news that we're not," a worker at a Pier 1 location in Jersey City, New Jersey, told Business Insider.
The store accepted Pier 1's rewards card, but not coupons. Workers made notes on receipts, making sure that items purchased at the closing sale could not be returned to other stores.
Outside, many passersby stopped to peak through the window, wondering if they should go in.
