At Home is an American big box retail chain specializing in home decor products based in Plano, Texas. The specialty retailer's stores each carry over 50,000 unique items across broad product categories including furniture, garden, home textiles, housewares, patio, rugs, seasonal decor, tabletop decor, and wall decor. At Home stores have a wide range of items; however, the company devotes a large portion of its space to seasonal merchandise. In August 2016, the company went public. As of October 22, 2019, it operated 213 stores in 39 states and planned to add at least 400 more. The average store is 110,000 square feet. Lewis L. Bird III serves as Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President for At Home. Bird joined the company in December 2012 and in a short time has transformed the 35-year-old Garden Ridge brand into the more consumer-relevant At Home retail chain. Prior to this, Bird served as President of Nike Affiliates for Nike Inc., Chief Operating Officer of Gap, and Chief Financial Officer of Old Navy.
History
Founded in 1979 with one store in Schertz, Texas, the brand was created as Garden Ridge Pottery and was later renamed simply Garden Ridge. Investment firm Three Cities Research became the largest shareholder of Garden Ridge in 1999. Garden Ridge filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004 amid failed lease negotiations and underwent a major reorganization that included closing ten stores in Texas, Georgia, Missouri, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. After the reorganization, the corporation emerged from Chapter 11 in 2005. AEA Investors acquired Garden Ridge in October 2011. In 2014, the company converted all stores to the At Home brand and floorplan, painting everything grey. The company publicly filed an S-1 on September 4, 2015. At Home has undergone a rebranding project that included the previously stated name change and a store redesign. The rebranding project changed the use of orange color for advertising to a soft grey and blue. A house symbol stands in for the “o” in At Home, so there’s no confusion about what’s sold inside, CEO Lee Bird said. This investment cost around $20 million.
