Type Subsidiary Area served United States Number of locations 276 (2015) Parent organization Bed Bath & Beyond | Founder William Amthor Key people Barry J. Feld, CEO Number of employees 6,127 | |
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Industry Retail, Online shopping Products Furniture, Curtains, Wine, Beer, Rugs, Bedding, Home Decor, Home accessories, Housewares, Gifts, Kitchenware, Tableware, Cookware and bakeware Headquarters Alameda, California, United States CEO Barry J Feld (25 Oct 2005–) Founded 1958, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California, United States Subsidiaries Cost Plus of Idaho, Inc., Cost Plus Management Services, Inc, Cost Plus of Texas, Inc. Profiles | ||
Cost Plus World Market is a chain of specialty/import retail stores, selling home furniture, decor, curtains, rugs, gifts, apparel, coffee, wine, craft beer, as well as several international food products. The brand's name originated from the initial concept, since abandoned, of selling items for "cost plus 10%". Its current headquarters are located in Oakland, California, in the Jack London District. The company has been a subsidiary of Bed Bath & Beyond since being acquired in 2012.
History
Cost Plus opened its first store at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California, in 1958. Founder William Amthor discovered San Franciscans loved imported discount retail merchandise, when he sold some extra rattan furniture. Amthor operated a small family-owned furniture store in San Francisco at the time, but instead of displaying the rattan furniture in his store, he rented 4,000 square feet (370 m2) of warehouse space in the Fisherman's Wharf area of San Francisco. The rattan furniture sold quickly, convincing Amthor to start importing merchandise as a new business. He opened his first store devoted exclusively to imported merchandise later in 1958 and began importing wicker by the shipload.
After the success of this store, they quickly spread across the Bay Area and later into other states. There are 276 stores spread across 35 states.
In the 1990s, "Cost Plus" shifted the branding of its stores to either Cost Plus World Market or to 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 market.
In February 2006, Cost Plus reported quarterly earnings of $125 million, with $367 million in revenue for the 4th fiscal quarter of 2006. Their annual earnings were $280 million with over $800 million in revenue. Cost Plus was acquired by Bed Bath & Beyond in 2012.
In 2014, Cost Plus World Market launched an online crowdsourcing-model marketplace called Craft by World Market. The website will post items for one month at a time, and sell only products that have a certain number of pre-orders to ensure enough customers will buy them.