World Market (store)

World Market, Inc.

World Market store in Lansing, Michigan
Trade name	World Market
Company type	Private
Industry	Retail, online shopping
Founded	1958; 66 years ago (1958) Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California, U.S.
Founder	William Amthor Lincoln Bartlett
Headquarters	Alameda, California, U.S.
Number of locations	258 (2020)
Area served	United States
Key people	Alex Smith, Executive Chairman
Products	Furniture and decor, apparel, international foods
Revenue	US$963.83 million (2011)[1]
Net income	US$16.5 million (2011)
Number of employees	6,127[1]
Parent	Bed Bath & Beyond (2012–2021) Kingswood Capital Management (2021–present)
Website	www.worldmarket.com

World Market, formerly Cost Plus World Market, is an American chain of specialty/import retail stores, selling home furniture, decor, curtains, rugs, gifts, apparel, coffee, wine, craft beer, and international food products. The brand's original name came from the initial concept, since abandoned, of selling items for "cost plus 10%". The company was owned by Bed Bath & Beyond from 2012 to 2021, and is currently headquartered in Alameda, California.^[2]

On 23 October 1958,^[3] William Amthor and Lincoln Bartlett^[4] opened the first Cost Plus Imports store at 2552 Taylor Street on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California. (This location would permanently close in 2020.)^[5] Amthor and Bartlett worked at Amthor's family's import business in San Francisco, which had imported a surplus of wicker furniture. Unable to offload the pieces via wholesale, they rented 4,000 square feet (370 m²) of warehouse space in the Fisherman's Wharf area.^[6] The imported furniture sold quickly, and Amthor began a new business as a retailer. When the first store opened in 1958, it was devoted to wicker and rattan that the company had imported. The store was named Cost Plus after their strategy of pricing the imported goods at cost, plus ten percent. The stores featured an eclectic mix of imported furniture and home furnishings, displayed in the style of a bazaar.^[7] The success in San Francisco led quickly led to the opening of other stores across Northern California.

In 1962, with the help of the Tandy Corporation, Cost Plus Imports incorporated and opened franchised locations in California and Texas. By 1966, the franchised stores were importing their own products and had been purchased by a group of Tandy's employees as Pier 1 Imports, while the original chain retained the Cost Plus name.^[6][4][8] Cost Plus would eventually grow to 258 stores across 39 states and Washington, D.C.^{[as of?]}

In 1987, Bechtel Investments (Fremont Group) completed a leveraged buyout.^[9]

In the 1990s, Cost Plus shifted the branding of its stores to either Cost Plus World Market or simply World Market in markets new to the brand (generally in the eastern or southern regions of the United States). In 1996, Cost Plus World Market went public and began trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

In February 2006, Cost Plus reported quarterly earnings of $125 million, with $367 million in revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2006. Annual earnings were $280 million with over $800 million in revenue. By 2008 the company was operating at a loss, and rebuffed an 88.4 million dollar takeover bid by Pier 1 Imports.^[10] In 2012, Cost Plus was acquired by Bed Bath & Beyond.^[11]

In 2014, Cost Plus World Market launched an online crowdsourcing-model marketplace, Craft by World Market.^[12] The website posts items for one month at a time, and sells only products that attract enough pre-orders to be worthwhile.^[13]

In October 2019, Bed Bath and Beyond announced pending closure of 40 Bed Bath and Beyond stores and 20 stores of World Market and other subsidiaries.^[14] The company sold Cost Plus World Market to Kingswood Capital Management in February 2021.^[15]

• Official website