- The Container Store, a home storage and organization chain, filed for bankruptcy on December 22.
- I visited the store’s Manhattan location in September.
- I loved the wide variety of options but concluded I’m not the store’s target customer for now.
Before I moved to New York City, everyone warned me about the shoebox apartments I’d have to get used to.
They weren’t wrong.
Living in a one-bedroom apartment definitely requires some innovative storage solutions. In the past year, I’ve looked to stores like Target, Ikea, Walmart, and Amazon for homeware items, but I can’t stop my Type-A mind from searching for options to make my space more efficient.
Enter The Container Store, a home storage and organization retailer founded in 1978 in Texas. The company now has 102 stores across the US.
However, while the company boasts a cult-like following, sales have struggled. On December 22, the company filed for bankruptcy, revealing in court documents that it’s $230 million in debt. Still, CEO and president Satish Malhotra said, “The Container Store is here to stay.”
The filing comes after months of other documented financial struggles. In June, The Container Store reported that first fiscal quarter sales were down 12.2% compared to the same period in 2023. The following month, Modern Retail reported that the company hadn’t “posted a full-year profit” since 2021.
In September, I visited The Container Store’s Sixth Avenue location in Manhattan to see if the storage solutions were right for me and if I could understand the brand’s sales decline.
Here’s what I found.
