A $2 billion bankruptcy isn’t stopping the latest big-box stumbler from staying open.
At Home Group, the Coppell-based home decor retailer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday as it looks to shed $2 billion in debt and restructure under mounting trade pressures, the Dallas Business Journal reported.
The company, which operates 260 stores across 40 states, including 10 in Texas, already reached a restructuring agreement with lenders holding more than 95 percent of its debt. The deal would eliminate all of At Home’s outstanding debt and inject $200 million in capital to support the retailer through the bankruptcy.
Once approved in Delaware bankruptcy court, the plan would hand control of At Home to its lenders, which include investment firms Redwood Capital Management, Farallon Capital Management and Anchorage Capital Advisors.
At Home said its stores will continue operating as normal. The company hired Kirkland & Ellis, PJT Partners, AlixPartners and Hilco Real Estate to guide the process.
At Home was preparing for a court-supervised restructuring before the bankruptcy filing. CEO Brad Weston cited “an increasingly dynamic and rapidly evolving trade environment,” as a factor in the decision, pointing to the impact of tariffs on the company’s supply chain and margins.
“The steps we are taking today to fully de-lever our balance sheet will improve our ability to compete in the marketplace in the face of continued volatility,” Weston said in a statement.
At Home was previously known as Garden Ridge and has long been a staple of suburban big-box retail, offering low-cost furniture and home decor. The company went private in 2021 after a $2.8 billion acquisition by Hellman & Friedman and had previously been exploring a return to the public markets before financial headwinds grew more severe.
The company joins a wave of retail restructurings and bankruptcies even as it vows to keep its 260 locations open. Joann filed for bankruptcy in February and Forever 21 did so in March; Big Lots, which has closed all of its stores, filed for bankruptcy protection last September, as did Party City in December. Texas-based rent-to-own retailer Conn’s also went out of business after filing for bankruptcy last year.
— Judah Duke
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