Furniture chain At Home files for bankruptcy and…

Furniture chain At Home files for bankruptcy and announces plans to close stores

The furniture store At Home filed for bankruptcy on Monday and announced 26 of its stores are set to close by next fall.

The shuttering of brick-and-mortar stores is becoming increasingly common, and At Home is the latest example of what happens to these types of retailers amid economic difficulties and shifting consumer patterns.

The furniture and home goods supplier listed several economic factors in court documents to explain why it needed to file for bankruptcy, including the aftereffects of the Covid-19 pandemic and President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

The Texas-based company currently operates 260 stores in 40 states. By September 30, it will close more than two dozen of those locations, including in New York, California and Florida, according to USA TODAY.

According to a review of court documents by The Independent, At Home listed several post-pandemic “financial and operational headwinds” it had to endure in 2022: “Inflationary cost pressures,” which were mostly driven by a spike in freight rates across the industry; “softening demand in the home décor market” and “shifting consumer preferences away from brick-and-mortar locations and towards the convenience of online shopping.”

At Home, which calls itself “a company that relies heavily on foreign suppliers,” also mentioned Trump’s trade war, specifically with China, in court documents.

“While At Home has had to deal with tariffs for some time given the nature of its business, the volatility of the current tariff environment came at a time when the management team was working to address the Company’s existing issues,” At Home wrote in court documents.

“These newly imposed tariffs and the uncertainty of ongoing U.S. trade negotiations intensified the financial pressure on the Company, accelerating the need for a comprehensive solution,” it added.

Here is a list of locations that will close next fall, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY:

California