First Look: The Container Store debuts new retail concept

7/31/2019
The Container Store has set its sights on custom closets with a new store concept that offers a personalized design experience.

The home storage and organization products retailer has opened a new format under the banner of The Container Store Custom Closets at its redesigned and remodeled location at the Farmers Market, adjacent to The Grove in Los Angeles. It is the chain’s first-ever store dedicated to closets and another is already in the works. A second Custom Closets location will open by the end of the year, in Dallas. (To see a video on the new store, click here.)

The opening of Custom Closets follows the launch of the brand’s fourth closet line, Avera, which was added a portfolio that includes the Elfa Classic, Elfa Décor and Laren lines. The new store showcases all the lines, with a goal of making it easier for customers, both in the design community and everyday shoppers, to better understand and visualize the breadth of product available. It also offers a personalized design service, Free In-Home Design, which includes a design consultation and professional measurements to ensure a solution will best fit the space and customer needs.

“This is an immense opportunity for our brand as this new store concept signifies our direction and our intense focus on custom closets,” said Melissa Reiff, CEO, The Container Store. “We are experts in storage and organization solutions and our expertise is invaluable to accomplishing the beautiful functionality of one of the most utilized spaces in a home – the closet. Our goal is to take what we do best and further strengthen our offerings to become the go-to custom closets resource for every size, style and budget.”

The new store features more than 65 closet displays that cover every area of the home, including pantry, garage, office and more, along with a selection of complementary organization products needed to provide a full solution. Complete with work stations and a full design center, it is designed to serve as a go-to resource for designers and trade members in the community and will be able to accommodate more customer appointments per day than its retail counterpart, the company said. Designers can use the space for client meetings and customers looking to handle the custom-closet process on their own will be able to tap into expertise of the store staff.

“The design of the store is elevated yet accessible, serving as a true design resource that allows customers to talk through their projects and visualize specific aspects of the design while having easy access to shop for key organization products,” said Val Richardson, VP of real estate. “We want to offer customers in multi-store markets a combination of traditional full-assortment stores as well as Custom Closets stores catering to those interested in custom space designs with more robust resources.”
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