. for the pier in seattle see pier 1 seattle . pier 1 imports inc. updated pier 1 imports logo type public traded as nyse pir industry retail founded 1962 ; 54 years ago 1962 san mateo california u.s. headquarters fort worth texas u.s. key people alexander smith ceo products furniture revenue us 1.86 billion number of employees 17 000 website www.pier1.com pier 1 imports liberty tree mall danvers massachusetts pier 1 imports inc. is a fort worth texas based retailer specializing in imported home furnishings and decor particularly furniture table top items decorative accessories and seasonal decor . it is publicly traded on the new york stock exchange under ticker pir . according to its investor relations website our image is quirky and our logo is iconic and describes itself as ever original ever evolving . 1 contents 1 history 2 stores 3 merchandise 4 partnerships 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit the first pier 1 imports store opened in san mateo california in 1962 . according to the company s official history the original store catered to hippy baby boomers and featured love beads and incense . 2 by 1966 pier 1 had grown to 16 store locations and established its corporate headquarters in fort worth texas . pier 1 went public on the american stock exchange in 1970 and later joined the new york stock exchange in 1972 . 2 at this time the company had grown to 123 stores posted 100 percent sales gains for four consecutive years and opened stores internationally in australia and europe . a pier 1 store in royal oak michigan reached annual sales of 1 million in 1979 . by 1985 the pier 1 chain grew to 265 stores with the management goal of doubling that number by 1990 . on december 29 2006 standard & poor s bumped pier 1 imports inc. down one spot and off the bottom of the s & p midcap 400 index when it added parametric technology corp. nasdaq pmtc a software company . 3 as of december 2012 the company had sales of 418 million . 4 in april 2008 chesapeake energy bought the headquarters of pier 1 for 104 million . 5 6 a pier 1 imports store in oregon a pier 1 imports store pittsfield twp . mi pier 1 headquarters stores edit the chain operates over 1 000 stores under the name pier 1 imports in the united states canada el salvador and mexico . the company also had a children s furniture and accessories retail concept in the united states called pier 1 kids which was disbanded in september 2007 . it was a member of the s & p midcap 400 list through the end of 2006 when it was bumped off the list . pier 1 imports also owned a chain of home decor retailers 40 locations as of february 2006 in the united kingdom called the pier until it was sold to palli limited a subsidiary of the iceland based lagerinn ehf in march 2006 for approximately 15 million . 7 this chain went into administration in december 2008 and was finally closed in january 2009 . 8 merchandise edit pier 1 merchandise consists of home furnishings and items including accessories such as candles vases and picture frames as well as full sized upholstered furniture hand carved armoires large scale vases and eclectic wall d cor . items are imported created in conjunction with foreign designers or produced by pier 1 s trend and product development team . 9 partnerships edit pier 1 has been a corporate partner of the u.s. fund for unicef since 1985 its longest running corporate partnership generating more than 42 million by selling unicef greeting cards cause marketing and emergency relief for afghanistan haiti and iraq as well as areas affected by the indian ocean tsunami . 10 former spokespeople for the company seen largely in broadcast commercials include cheers alumna kirstie alley and thom filicia of queer eye for the straight guy . see also edit the akron cost plus inc. references edit investor relations . pier 1 imports . retrieved 31 december 2013 . a b pier 1 imports history . pier 1 imports . campoy ana december 20 2006 . s & p changes makeup of indexes spectra set to become index component . marketwatch . halkias maria december 13 2012 . fort worth based pier 1 imports reported higher sales and profits as superstorm sandy tempered results . dallas morning news . sheryl jean august 22 2008 . dallas fort worth s energy boom is prominent factor in office market . dallas morning news . smith alexander w. october 24 2010 . ceo makes tough calls to bring magic back to pier 1 . dallas morning news . pier 1 imports pir sells subsidiary to palli limited for approx . 15 mln . street insider . march 20 2006 . ramnarayan abhinav december 4 2008 . the pier collapses under recession pressure . the guardian . retrieved 31 december 2013 . about pier 1 imports . pier 1 imports . corporate partners pier 1 imports inc. . united states fund for unicef . retrieved 31 december 2013 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to pier 1 imports . official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title pier 1 imports & oldid 744513821 categories home decor retailersfurniture retailers of the united statescompanies based in fort worth texasretail companies established in 19621962 establishments in californiacompanies listed on the new york stock exchangehidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parameterscommons category with page title same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages add links this page was last modified on 15 october 2016 at 18 49 . text 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