Final sales as home goods retailer with 200 locations set to close 'superstore' at once-popular mall
A POPULAR home goods retailer is closing a superstore location as sales have stalled at malls across the country.
At Home will be officially saying goodbye to shoppers in Waterloo, Iowa, an hour outside of Cedar Rapids, in November.
That’s when the chain’s massive Crossroads Mall location shuts its doors, and customers will be forced to look elsewhere for all their home goods needs.
The one silver lining of any store closure is that liquidation sales will be in effect until the final closing day.
That means, up until November 1, shoppers can expect large discounts on a variety of home goods items, ranging from home decor and kitchen supplies to bedding and outdoor products.
While it is unclear what specifically drove the Waterloo closure, At Home and other home goods retailers have struggled to remain competitive in recent years.
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The slow sales have been linked to the rise in online shopping as well as shoppers reeling in their discretionary purchases amid high inflation rates.
Other At Home stores in New York, California, Illinois, and Texas also shut down since last year.
At Home first opened in the Waterloo community in 2016.
The entire store takes up 112,000 square feet, according to The Courier, and it previously housed JCPenney before transitioning into the home goods giant.
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Around 20 other stores are located at the Crossroads Mall, but the shopping center has experienced a significant uptick in closings recently.
Since 2018, Younkers, Sears, Dillard’s, and Gordman’s have all fled the ailing mall.
Only two restaurants remain inside the mall’s doors along with well-known companies like Bath & Body Works and H&R Block.
Noel Anderson, Waterloo’s community planning and development director, told the local publication the city hopes to breathe new life into the mall, whether that’s through renovations or partial demolition and rebuilding.
“The city has layered the area with incentive potential to help a private partner for redevelopment,” Anderson said. “The city also continues to make improvements to the area surrounding the mall such as roadway improvements to San Marnan, La Porte Road and other projects.”
The mall’s redevelopment has also been listed as one of the city’s goals in its 2030 vision plan.
Nationally, At Home operates more than 260 locations primarily across the East Coast.
All in all, the chain employs around 10,000 workers, but several will be let go due to the Waterloo closing.
Currently, shoppers can get up to 50 percent off on all outdoor items, with all furniture starting at $34.99.
The U.S. Sun reached out to At Home for further comment.
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At Home has joined several other retailers as they work to reduce their store fleets of underperforming stores.
Competitor Tuesday Morning has also closed its doors after filing for bankruptcy.
While its portfolio consisted of around 700 outlets just three years ago, the discount home goods retailer has closed hundreds in recent months.
Meanwhile, home goods giant Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy and has moved to an entirely online storefront.
After filing for bankruptcy in April, court documents from the filing revealed the business had debts of $5.2billion.
However, its intellectual property was bought by Overstock.com as Overstock looks to grow its online shopping market.
"Bed Bath & Beyond is an iconic consumer brand, well-known in the home retail marketplace,” Overstock chief executive officer Jonathan Johnson said.
“The combination of our winning asset-light business model and the high awareness and loyalty of the Bed Bath & Beyond brand will improve the customer experience and position the company for accelerated market share growth."
Party City likewise filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will be closing more than 30 locations this year.
Its financial woes were preceded by a perfect storm of factors.
Back in 2019, the chain suffered a helium shortage, which saw 45 stores shutter as a result.
And once the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, shoppers stopped holding parties altogether, severely disrupting the company’s business model that once thrived off in person events.
Meanwhile pharmacy giant CVS is also feeling the financial hit to its brick and mortar stores.
CVS said it plans to shutter at least 300 stores per year through 2026.
Likewise, CVS's rival Walgreens closed multiple stores this summer.
This includes one in Syracuse, New York, and another in Dundalk, Maryland.
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