Pier 1 Imports Inc. the funky furniture retailer that started out selling bean bag chairs and love beads to hippies and later grew into a home-furnishings giant with more than 1,000 stores, filed for bankruptcy Monday, a victim of changing consumer tastes and an unforgiving retail environment.

The home furnishings chain filed for chapter 11 protection Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va., with plans to sell the company, less than two months after saying it planned to close up to 450 stores and cut costs to...