| World Market, Inc. | |
| Trade Name: | World Market |
| Type: | Private |
| Foundation: | Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Founder: |
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| Location: | Alameda, California, U.S. |
| Locations: | 258 (2020) |
| Key People: | Alex Smith, Executive Chairman |
| Area Served: | United States |
| Industry: | Retail, online shopping |
| Products: | Furniture and decor, apparel, international foods |
| Revenue: | US$963.83 million (2011)[1] |
| Net Income: | US$16.5 million (2011) |
| Num Employees: | 6,127 |
| Parent: | Bed Bath & Beyond (2012–2021) Kingswood Capital Management (2021–present) |
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 permanently closed in 2020.[5] Founder William Amthor had been operating a small family-owned furniture store in San Francisco, when he imported a surplus of wicker furniture. Rather than display the wicker pieces in his store, he rented 4000square feet of warehouse space in the Fisherman's Wharf area of San Francisco. The imported furniture sold quickly, and Amthor began a new business as an importer. When he opened his first store in 1958, it was devoted exclusively to wicker and rattan that he had imported himself. The store was named Cost Plus after Amthor's 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.[6] The success in San Francisco led Amthor to quickly open 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. The franchised stores would, by 1966, be renamed Pier 1 Imports, while Amthor's original chain retained the Cost Plus name.[4] [7] Cost Plus would eventually grow to 258 stores across 39 states and Washington, D.C.
In 1987, Bechtel Investments (Fremont Group) completed a leveraged buyout.[8]
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.[9] In 2012, Cost Plus was acquired by Bed Bath & Beyond.[10]
In 2014, Cost Plus World Market launched an online crowdsourcing-model marketplace, Craft by World Market.[11] The website posts items for one month at a time, and sells only products that attract enough pre-orders to be worthwhile.[12]
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.[13] The company sold Cost Plus World Market to Kingswood Capital Management in February 2021.[14]