The home storage and organisation products retailer plans to open six new small format stores in fiscal 2023 and three new stores in fiscal 2024.
The Container Store debuted its small format concept in September 2022 at The Promenade Shops at Briargate, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was followed by a second location, at Tuscan Village in Salem, New Hampshire. A third opened in April, at the Village at Moorpark in Thousand Oaks, California. Stores are in the 15,000sq ft range.
The retailer revealed the new store openings in its first-quarter results (ended 1 July), which saw consolidated net sales fall 21.1per cent to $207.1M and comparable store sales decrease 19.9 per cent. The company’s consolidated net loss and net loss per share were $11.8M and $0.24 per share, compared to net income of $10.5M and $0.21 per share in the year-ago quarter.
In a statement, Container Store President and CEO Satish Malhotra said that the company’s topline performance was in line with its expectations and reflects “the impact of the ongoing challenging macro environment”.
“During the quarter, we continued our focus on bringing merchandise newness and innovation to our customers, and delivering an engaging in-store experience demonstrated by a net promoter score of 81,” Malhotra said. “We also tested a number of different promotional events to entice our customers. While these tests pressured margins in the quarter, they unlocked key learnings that we are incorporating into our go-forward promotional plans.”
