The Container Store Goes Global

By Bob Johns

The organization giant is looking to expand its brand worldwide.

Just in time for the holidays, the Container Store is going global with its e-commerce channel. The Container Store is the leading retailers of storage and organization products in the U.S. The company’s e-commerce channel had previously only sold to U.S. and Canadian customers. Through its new partnership with Borderfree, the company is now able to sell into Australia, India, Mexico, Germany, France, Japan, Switzerland, Russia and The United Kingdom, making it a truly global brand.

“Having the ability to provide our thousands of time- and space-saving solutions to customers around the world has been a dream of ours for many years,” says Melissa Collins, Vice President of Creative and Online, The Container Store. “Our biggest priority is to provide customers with an excellent experience whether they are shopping in our stores or online.” The company is able to sell its more than 10,000 products to a myriad of customers across the globe with the same ease it services domestic customers.

The expansion really could not come at a better time. Not only are the busiest holiday seasons coming up worldwide, but the company also recently announced plans to offer and an initial IPO and go public. On September 30, the company released a statement of its intent to go public after being privately held since its inception in 1978, although a majority stake was purchased in 2007 by private equity firm Leonard Green and Partners. Initially, the company plans to raise roughly $200 million through the IPO.

The company has been active lately, with continued expansion, building a new warehouse, adding a new voice-picking system, and updating its cross-platform data solutions. The idea behind all of these upgrades is to continue growing steadily without outgrowing technology solutions. Too many companies expand before their infrastructure can handle it. So far, the Container Store seems to be handling the back end properly before moving forward.

Check out how the Container Store overhauled fulfillment.