Pier 1 Imports

Well, t If you're not familiar, it's a fairly unique store. They have those signature blue rectangular signs on their storefronts that you've probably seen because they've typically had around 1,000 locations spread across the United States and Canada. They claim to have them in every major metropolitan area in the US, so there's Inside, they sell furniture and what they call decorative accessories, meaning rugs, mirrors, pillows, lamps, vases, candles, t As of 2019, 67% of their sales came from decorative accessories and the rest was furniture. Let me tell you what's been going on with them, and I t Here's the big news, they filed their 10Q, their t And if you look deeper into the reports, it becomes clear why they're doing it. Looking at their sales, well, they've taken a turn in the wrong direction, with 2019 being the worst of it. That 2019 figure represents their last full year, w Their new quarterly report represents the next 9 months that followed. It's hard to make direct comparison find anywhere else. T Wit It was also in the 90s when they made a big push to expand internationally, first in Puerto Rico in 1993, and then they had they then started opening these store wit So that's an overview of how they became the large international company that we all know today, and I t I have a few potential reasons for it. The biggest one would have to be increased competition, and the way they responded to it. Around 2005, they started getting it from all angles. I guess the world finally started recognizing the demand for this sort of stuff, because all these stores similar to theirs started popping up and growing, and then discount stores One of the ways they responded to it was by putting a full focus on their stores and closing their online operations. It didn't seem too significant at the time, since it only accounted for about 1% of their sales, but we can now see how shutting down their online store in 2007 was not the best idea. It made it very easy for Amazon and all the other online competitors to take their share of the growing market. They did relaunch it in 2012, but that was sort of late and the damage was done. Plus, there's t Ikea is another one. T I also fear that they may not be targeting the right customer anymore. I hope we can all agree that to me anyway, it looks It's just the vibe I get from the environment and the type of stuff that they're selling, but then, conversely, they've done well over the years by selling to first time home buyers. Their stuff isn'the Do you see what I'm saying? They have t For good reason, yet today, it really doesn't seem The other potential big reason for their decline is all of the clutter. The few times I've been in the store, everyt The sections all run together and everyt On the surface, to me, it looks They purposely create t It could be effective, but I don'think it works Maybe it has to do with the internet and how it delivers quick search results that we've all come to expect, I don't know, but if that is the case, again, they're doing a poor job in attracting the younger generations. To s Years ago, they responded to that competition in ways that may have fixed t Meanw Then we have these unorganized stores and questionable core customers and they took out t Let me know in the comments, do you agree? Are these the biggest reasons for their struggles or are there other factors that I failed to mention? What's your perception as a customer? These n Also, what do you see for the future of the company? Do you t And then I have to ask, is there even anyt Do they provide anyt I'd