The Container Store

The Container Store Group, Inc. is an American specialty retail chain company that operates The Container Store, which offers storage and organization products, and custom closets. In February 2007, its owners announced that they were "exploring alternatives," including selling The Container Store to private investors, in order to fund future growth. They stated that they would not sell unless they received guarantees that the corporate culture would be preserved. On July 2, 2007, The Container Store announced that they had closed a deal with a private equity firm based in Los Angeles, Leonard Green & Partners, which obtained a majority stake.

History
On July 1, 1978, The Container Store opened in a small, 1600 sqft, retail space in Dallas. Garrett Boone and John Mullen with the backing of their families opened the retail space originating The Container Store. Garrett Boone and architect John Mullen opened a retail store offering a mix of products devoted to helping people simplify their lives. In doing so, they originated a new category of retailing (storage and organization). Initial cash capital was provided by Garrett, his father, and John Mullen, who were founding directors, officers and shareholders of The Container Store. Garrett Boone and Kip Tindell met while working in the paint department of Montgomery Ward and with an agreement with Garrett Boone and John Mullen a year later allowed Kip Tindell along with his wife Sharon to invest in The Container Store. In 1999, The Container Store bought one of its main suppliers, Elfa International, a Swedish corporation that specialized in shelving and storage units. The first store location outside Texas opened in Atlanta, Georgia 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.

The Container Store had made Fortune magazines list of "100 Best Companies to Work For" for many years with Boone at the helm. Running through 2016. Following the deal with Leonard Green & Partners, announced in July 2007, The Container Store announced plans to open 29 more stores in the next five years. The first Arkansas location (Little Rock) opened in March 2008, followed by the first Arizona location (Scottsdale) in the summer, and the first Minnesota location (Edina) and second Ohio location (Cincinnati) that fall. In 2013, the retailer was one of the hottest IPOs of 2013. However, according to Forbes, "the Container Store is a far cry from the 300 store potential investors were promised in the IPO." Since 2013, only 30 stores were added, or about 5 per year. The Container Store has not kept its promise to investors "to be the category killer of storage containers and home organization." As of May 2016, The Container Store had 80 locations, with plans to open several stores in the following months. On May 9, 2016, The Container Store announced that Kip Tindell would be stepping down as CEO and would be succeeded by COO and president Melissa Reiff.

On December 22, 2020, The Container Store Group, Inc. announced that retail executive Satish Malhotra would succeed Melissa Reiff as CEO and president on February 1, 2021. Effective March 1, 2021, Reiff retired from the Container Store, while retaining her epitaphic position as chairwoman of the board of directors until the annual meeting of shareholders in late summer 2021. In October 2023, CreditRiskMonitor reported that The Container Store has a 4–9.99% probability of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.