Pier 1 to shut all kids stores

Pier 1 will close all 33 of its Pier 1 Kids stores by Oct. 31 and its 24 clearance stores by July 31 to focus on its full-line units, the retailer's president and CEO said recently.

In total, the company will close 100 stores this year, CEO Alex Smith said in a conference call with securities analysts.

"We need to focus 100% of our attention on our core business, the Pier 1 Imports stores," Smith said. He made the comments while discussing Pier 1's earnings for the first fiscal quarter ended June 2, which included a net loss of $56.4 million, compared with a loss of $23.2 million a year earlier, and sales of $356.4 million, down 5%.

In addition to closing stores, he said the company will exit its e-commerce and catalog sales activities by Oct. 31, although it will keep its pier1.com Web site for marketing purposes.

The moves will leave the company with 1,020 stores in the United States and 80 in Canada.

Smith said the full-line Pier 1 Imports stores have provided a better return on investment than the operations that are to be closed.

The company entered the children's furniture business with the 2001 acquisition of retailer Cargo, and later changed the name to Pier 1 Kids and opened some additional stores.

Smith also told the analysts that the company continues to make progress on efforts to return to profitability, including clearing its modern craftsman merchandise and adding products that reflect "the true essence of Pier 1 Imports." Such goods will have "a high level of handiwork, a lot of decoration (and) nods in the direction of the country in which it is made."

Between now and the end of January, more than 2,000 new SKUs will be delivered to the stores, Smith said.