The Container Store
Encyclopedia
On July 1, 1978, The Container Store opened its doors in a small, 1600 square feet (148.6 m²) retail space in Dallas. Kip Tindell (Chairman and CEO), Garrett Boone (Chairman Emeritus), and Architect John Mullen opened a retail store offering an exceptional and eclectic mix of products devoted to helping people simplify their lives. In doing so, they originated a completely new category of retailing, that of storage and organization. Initial cash capital was provided by Garrett, his father, and John Mullen, who were founding directors, officers and shareholders of the company. The company has reported an average of 20% annual growth every year that it has been in operation. In 1999, the company bought one of its main suppliers, elfa International
Elfa International
elfa is a shelving system company that is headquartered in Västervik, Sweden. It is owned by the American company The Container Store, which is the exclusive retailer of elfa shelving in the United States....
, a Swedish corporation that specializes in shelving
Shelving
In surgery, the shelving is the fascia between the inguinal ligaments and above the pubic symphysis. It is the natural extension of the transversalis fascia...
and storage units.
Company president Melissa Reiff has credited the company's devotion to recruiting and retaining a highly qualified workforce as one of the keys to its success. The company has made Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
s list of "100 Best Places to Work in America" in each of the past 12 years, through 2011.
In February 2007, its owners announced that they were "exploring alternatives," including selling the company to private investors, in order to fund future growth. They stated that they would not sell unless they received guarantees that the corporate culture was preserved. On July 2, 2007, the company announced that they had closed a deal with a private equity firm based in Los Angeles, Leonard Green & Partners
Leonard Green & Partners
Leonard Green & Partners is a private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyout transactions, particularly of middle market companies. As of 2010, the firm had with approximately $9 billion in assets under management....
, which obtained a majority stake.
History of Growth: Garrett Boone and Kip Tindell met while working in the paint department of Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward is an online retailer that carries the same name as the former American department store chain, founded as the world's #1 mail order business in 1872 by Aaron Montgomery Ward, and which went out of business in 2001...
. The first store location outside Texas opened in Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
in April 1991. By December 1998, the chain had grown to 18 stores in operation. In October 2000, its first New York metropolitan area store opened. As of November 2004, it had 33 locations, and reached 38 with the opening of the first Los Angeles area location in October 2006. Its first Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
store opened in early 2007, taking the spot of a former location of the recently-defunct Organized Living
Organized Living
Organized Living was a specialty retail chain in the United States that sold storage solutions for home and office. Since 2007, it has operated as an online-only outlet....
chain.
Following the deal with Leonard Green announced in July 2007, the company announced plans to open 29 more stores in the next five years. The first Arkansas location (Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
) opened in March 2008, followed by the first Arizona location (Scottsdale
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
) in the summer, and the first Minnesota location (Edina
Edina, Minnesota
Edina is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and a first-ring suburb situated immediately southwest of Minneapolis. Edina began as a small farming and milling community in the 1860s. The population was 47,941 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
) and second Ohio location (Cincinnati) that fall.
See also
- Organized LivingOrganized LivingOrganized Living was a specialty retail chain in the United States that sold storage solutions for home and office. Since 2007, it has operated as an online-only outlet....
, chain that closed in 2005 - Hold EverythingHold Everything (store)Hold Everything was a specialty retail chain in the United States that sold home organization and storage solutions. Its parent company, Williams-Sonoma, closed the 11 existing stores in the chain in 2006....
, chain that closed in 2006 - StorablesStorablesStorables is a specialty retail chain in the United States that sells containers for home and office. As of October 2009, it had seven locations in four states....