Organized Living
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | Kansas (1985) |
| Revenue |  USD Est. $75-100 million in 2004-05[1] |
Number of employees | ~1000 in 2004-05[2] |
Organized Living was a specialty retail chain in the United States that sold storage solutions for home and office. Since 2007, it has operated as an online-only outlet.
The company was founded as Containers Unlimited by Mark Ferrel in Kansas in 1985,[1][2] with its first location in Overland Park.[3] In 1993, the then-two store chain changed its name from Containers and More to Organized Living.[4] By mid-1996, the chain had three stores (the original location plus two locations in St. Louis) and next expanded by adding two stores in Las Vegas in early 1997.[3] As it grew, the company consciously decided to focus expansion on markets not already served by The Container Store, its primary competitor.[5] As of mid-2000, the chain had grown to 11 stores.[6]
The store eventually grew to 25 stores before filing for bankruptcy in 2005 after planned financing did not come to fruition.[1] After private equity firm Saunders Karp & Megrue bought a majority stake in the company,[2] the former head of Bath & Body Works, Beth Pritchard, was hired in January 2004 to grow the chain into a national presence.[7] Pritchard also moved the company's headquarters from Lenexa, Kansas in the Kansas City area to Westerville, Ohio near Columbus.[1] Pritchard was released in May 2005 during the bankruptcy proceedings.[8] Pritchard cited changes in Saunder Karp's commitment to finance growth as the cause of the collapse.[2]
Schulte Corp., one of the company's biggest creditors, obtained rights to the Organized Living name in the bankruptcy, and operates OrganizedLiving.com as an online retailer.[9][10]
See also
- The Container Store
- Hold Everything, storage chain that closed in 2006.
- Storables
References
- ^ a b c d "Organized Living liquidating stores". Columbus Business First. June 24, 2005. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c d "'Sad deal' as Organized Living fails". Columbus Business First. July 1, 2005. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b "Organized Living goes west(expanding in Las Vegas, Nevada)". HFN. June 24, 1996. Retrieved Oct. 27, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Business Plus, Bulletin Board". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jan. 11, 1993. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Organized Living Stresses Solutions". HFN. Sept. 21, 1998. Retrieved Oct. 27, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Upscale Organized Living opening at The Summit". Birmingham Business Journal. June 9, 2000. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Organized Living names new CEO". Kansas City Business Journal. Jan. 16, 2004. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Organized Living cuts chief in Chapter 11". Columbus Business First. May 16, 2005. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Firm shelves brass pipes for Organized Living chain". Business Courier of Cincinnati. March 30, 2007. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ OrganizedLiving.com, About Us, Retrieved 2009-10-26