For Jacksonville shoppers who love strolling the home décor aisles for inspiration or everyday essentials, the number of stores offering home goods has dwindled in recent years following bankruptcies and closings.
Those include Bed Bath & Beyond, Tuesday Morning, Stein Mart, Sears and most recently, Joann.
On June 16, another big-box name joined the growing list of struggling retailers: At Home.
The Texas-based retailer that operates over 250 stores across 40 states, including one in the Jacksonville area, filed for bankruptcy and announced the pending closings of 26 “underperforming” locations, or about 10% of its total stores.
Will At Home close in Jacksonville?
In the Jacksonville area, At Home has one store, at 1919 Wells Road in Orange Park.
The store opened in September 2014 in the former Super Target spot across from Orange Park Mall.
But in some good news for area shoppers, that store is not on the list of 26 stores slated to close this year and will remain open.
What’s next for At Home?
As part of the reorganization, At Home’s ownership will transition to a group of investment firms based in New York and San Francisco. This change is aimed at strengthening the company for the future and helping ensure it can continue serving communities.
Bankruptcy, though not ideal, is a business strategy that “will improve our ability to compete in the marketplace in the face of continued volatility,” said CEO Brad Weston, a retail veteran who joined At Home last year after leading Party City through its own bankruptcy.
Why did ‘At Home’ declare bankruptcy?
Court documents state that rising interest rates, “persistent inflation” and a growing concern over unsustainable customs costs resulting from increased tariffs, led At Home to file for bankruptcy. As a result, At Home already closed six stores over the past year.
Weston pointed to what he called “an increasingly dynamic and rapidly evolving trade environment,” including tariffs on Chinese imports, a key source for At Home’s merchandise. While some tariffs were recently reduced from 145% to 30%, the damage had already been done. The slowdown in discretionary consumer spending added further pressure.
As a result, to stabilize its future, the company struck a deal with lenders to wipe out nearly $2 billion in debt and inject $200 million in new funding to keep the business afloat during bankruptcy. Upon exiting Chapter 11, At Home will be under new ownership with what Weston described as a “meaningfully strengthened balance sheet.”
What is Chapter 11 bankruptcy?
Chapter 11 allows companies to reorganize while continuing operations. It gives businesses the chance to renegotiate debt and emerge financially healthier, ideally avoiding full liquidation.
It lets them work out new deals with creditors, reorganize their finances, and hopefully come out stronger. One of the biggest perks is something called an “automatic stay,” which basically puts a temporary stop to things like lawsuits and foreclosures, giving the company some much-needed breathing room to figure things out.
For now, Jacksonville’s At Home location remains open, but the uncertain future of retail is. Particularly for home furnishing chains, it remains a sign of the times.
Which At Home stores are closing?
According to court documents, the following stores are set to close:
When will At Home close its stores?
According to court documents, At Home will close the 26 stores by Sept. 30, 2025.
Recent local home furnishing closures
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: At Home is closing 26 stores after filing for bankruptcy. Are any in Jacksonville?
Reporting by Doris Alvarez Cea, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
