The retail industry has never before been so lopsided.
For instance, some large, incumbent retail corporations have reported nothing but bumper earnings and have seen rapid growth since the early 2020s.
Related: Convenience store chain closes all stores after bankruptcy
Walmart is one of those companies. The United States’ largest retailer quickly adapted to the online shift in 2020, when most people were staying at home and doing their shopping on the internet instead of in stores.
It ramped up Walmart+, its competitor to Amazon Prime, and doubled many of its stores as fulfillment facilities to get merchandise out the door fast.
When things finally began to reopen, Walmart was there as a trusted and familiar brand.
And when prices began to rise, Walmart began a rollback initiative to bring down the cost of many items (particularly in the grocery aisle) back to pre-inflation prices.
Flush with cash, it’s also now embarking on a $9 billion project to revamp many of its stores to offer folks a more enjoyable shopping experience.
The Container Store could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Shutterstock
But some retailers have had ongoing trouble
Other retailers are struggling, however.
Not everybody can scale like Walmart, or foresee needs like Amazon.
Smaller retailers, for example, simply don’t have the national reach that large scale retailers have. They’re forced to operate within confined proximities, and are typically more exposed to risk and fickle consumer tastes.
More Retail:
Walmart CEO sounds alarm on a big problem for customersTarget makes a change that might scare Walmart, CostcoTop investor takes firm stance on troubled retail brandWalmart and Costco making major change affecting all customers
Exclusively brick and mortar, or in-person, retailers are similar. They can’t rely on the convenience of online shopping to help float them through a season of reduced foot traffic, as was the case with covid.
And when interest rates rise, and it gets more expensive to borrow money, growth gets harder.
The Container Store makes a big change
One retailer that has struggled in recent years is The Container Store.
The Container Store is a home goods and organization retailer that bases most of its operations out of brick and mortar locations. But plagued by increasing competition from online retailers, like Amazon, or discount brick and mortars, like TJX’s HomeGoods, The Container Store’s market share slipped — and so did its profits.
It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 22, 2024. It emerged from bankruptcy about a month later, on January 28, 2025.
The Container Store managed to restructure some of its debt, but it continues to undergo changes.
Its CEO, Satish Malhotra, resigned “to pursue other opportunities, effective immediately,” on March 20.
But the company quickly put into place an Office of the CEO (OCEO), led by board chair Joel Bines.
Bines will now serve as executive chairman, and in an email about the shakeup, indicated there are brighter horizons ahead for The Container Store.
“We believe in the future of The Container Store — the only national, multi-channel retailer dedicated to helping people improve their lives through the power of organization,” Bines wrote. “The company emerged from its restructuring stronger and healthier, and we could not be more excited to help this incredible team recapture a dominant position and grow the loyal customer base.”
Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast
