Closure News

20 Texas locations of Pier 1 Imports closing, but Austin stores spared for now

Pier 1 will close 20 stores across Texas.

Photo by Pier 1

After many efforts to stay afloat, Fort Worth-based Pier I Imports has thrown in the embroidered towel and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The home furnishings chain said in a release that it filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Virginia, and is officially for sale. The company is entertaining offers from multiple potential buyers who may acquire them out of bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, they'll close up to 450 stores, including all of the stores in Canada.

A company spokesperson would not confirm the closures, but USA Today magically has a list of 300 stores set to shutter, including 20 stores across Texas.

They are as follows:

Amarillo: 8511 West Interstate Highway 40
Arlington: 4145 South Cooper St.
Arlington: 780 Road to Six Flags St. East.
Burleson: 1107 N Burleson Blvd.
College Station: 1424 Texas Ave. South
Denton: 1800 S. Loop 288.
El Paso: 8889 Gateway Blvd. W.
Galveston: 6228 Broadway St.
Georgetown: 1019 West University Ave.
Houston: 110 Meyerland Plaza Mall.
Houston: 17725 Tomball Parkway
Houston: 2501 Rice Blvd.
Houston: 6815 Highway 6 N.
Irving: 7805 N MacArthur Blvd.
Lewisville: 500 E. Round Grove Road
Longview: 307 West Loop 281
Pasadena: 5660 Fairmont Parkway
Pearland: 3113 Silverlake Village Drive
San Antonio: 11625 Bandera Road
Wichita Falls: 4400 Kemp Blvd.

It appears the Austin-area stores have been spared. The closures will be staggered over the next few months, with some stores closing at the end of February and others closing later in the spring. Sales have already started at all of the stores that are closing.

According to CNBC, they're also closing two distribution centers.

The closures were initially announced in January, although the locations were not identified at that time. It represents about half of the total number of stores.

closings

GOB Sale

All Austin-area Big Lots stores hold going out of business sales

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Big Lots

Discount retail chain Big Lots is hosting a massive "GOB" — going out of business — sale, in anticipation of a possible company-wide closure.

The Columbus, Ohio-based chain has not come out and said it is going out of business — but instead that is holding the going-out-of-business sales to protect the value of the company.

"We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale," Big Lots President and CEO Bruce Thorn said in a statement. "While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the GOB process."

The sell-off comes after a stalled sale of Big Lots to Nexus Capital Management, which was in motion after Big Lots initiated bankruptcy proceedings under Chapter 11 in September.

At that time, they executed a first round of closings — a total of 344 stores that included just one in the Austin area. More rounds of closures followed in the coming months.

On December 19, Big Lots determined that the sale would not be moving forward.

According to Fast Company, Big Lots did not explain why it was unable to complete a sale to Nexus, other than reports that an appraisal of Big Lots' inventory came in below expectations, which would make it unviable for Nexus Capital Management buy the company.

While they continue to look for alternatives, the plan now is to do the GOB sale in anticipation of a company shutdown.

Fans will miss Big Lots for their good-quality furniture, household goods, seasonal items, and gourmet foodstuffs, as well as basics like cleaning products and cereal.

There are currently four stores still operating in the Austin area:

Cedar Park: 850 N Bell Blvd., Ste. 104
Round Rock: 1201 S. Interstate 35, Ste. 200, Round Rock
Spicewood Springs: 8666 Spicewood Springs Rd.
Southeast Austin: 801 E. William Cannon Dr., Ste. 135b

closings