- 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.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
More stores are closing in 2020, and about half of Pier 1 Imports' locations are among them.
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.
Here's what we saw: