Pier 1 Imports in Coralville to close

Pier 1 Imports in Coralville will be among the up to 450 stores the home goods retailer plans to close nationwide, amid declining sales and reported plans to file for bankruptcy.

As of last week, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company had removed at least 270 location listings across 43 states, including for its store at 1401 Coral Ridge Ave. in Coral Ridge Mall, from its website, according to an analysis by Business Insider.

Employees at each, in a random selection of 20 unlisted stores, told Business Insider their locations indeed would close.

A Jan. 16 email to Pier 1 customers bore the subject line 'CORALVILLE STORE CLOSING” and promoted a clearance sale on products throughout the store.

A Coralville store employee on Wednesday told The Gazette that location is scheduled to close around the end of March.

Other Pier 1 stores in Iowa - in Dubuque, Sioux City and West Des Moines - also have been removed from the company's website. The Marion store remains listed on the company's website of active venues.

A Pier 1 representative did not reply to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier this month, in sharing its decision to pursue store closures, Pier 1 indicated the move was a 'necessary business decision.”

Those closures 'will enable us to move forward with an appropriately sized store footprint and operating structure as an omnichannel retailer and better position Pier 1 to meet our customers where they shop,” said Robert Riesbeck, the company's CEO and chief financial officer, in an investors release.

Historical and recent store performance, the timing of lease expirations and whether landlords would negotiate more favorable lease terms factored into which stores Pier 1 decided to close, it said in an earnings report.

A third-party liquidator is working on behalf of Pier 1 to help manage the store closings, the company has said.

Comments: (319) 398-8366; thomas.friestad@thegazette.com