The Container Store faces a do-or-die holiday shopping season
CNN
The Container Store faces a do-or-die holiday shopping season
Even the power of Marie Kondo may not be enough to save the Container Store. In 2019 and 2020, the Container Store got a big boost “Tidying Up,” the hit Netflix show from the home de-cluttering evangelist. Customers rushed into stores to buy storage bins, pantry and drawer organizers, shelves and other goods to organize the junk in their homes, helping drive up the company’s sales. The Container Store in 2021 launched a partnership with Kondo to design exclusive products for the chain. “When ‘Tidying Up’ premiered in 2019 and consumers immediately connected decluttering and organization with The Container Store, we knew that there was an opportunity to create something special with Marie,” the Container Store’s then-CEO Melissa Reiff said in 2020. But the Kondo effect has worn off, and the Container Store’s future is in jeopardy. A weak housing market and steep competition have squeezed the chain. The Container Store, which first began in 1978 and has grown to around 100 US locations, now faces a critical holiday shopping season to save it from bankruptcy. Credit rating agencies rank the Container Store as one of the most financially distressed companies in the retail industry. The Container Store’s struggles show that the bump many retailers got coming out of the pandemic has ended, with retailers now facing a much tougher environment. More stores are expected to close this year than any year since 2020, according to Coresight Research. Chains like LL Flooring, Big Lots and Joann Fabric have filed for bankruptcy in recent months.
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