Pier 1 store in Cheshire to close

The Pier 1 store in Cheshire. The Pier 1 store in Cheshire. Photo: Luther Turmelle / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Luther Turmelle / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Pier 1 store in Cheshire to close 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

CHESHIRE — Home furnishing retailer Pier 1 will close its store on South Main Street in April of next year, a spokeswoman for the Forth Worth, Texas-based chain, said Wednesday.

Melissa Simon, a Pier 1 spokeswoman, said the decision to close the store, which opened in 2005, was made as part of an ongoing review process by company officials.

“Pier 1 continually reviews new and existing store locations to make sure we’re operating as efficiently as possible,” Simon said. “Where necessary, based on that review, we make the strategic business decision to close certain locations on a case-by-case basis.”

Information on how many employees would lose their jobs as a result of the store closing was not immediately available. Pier 1 has 17 stores in Connecticut, including locations in Hamden, Milford, Branford and Old Saybrook.

The Cheshire Pier 1 location is one of the largest retail spaces in the Cheshire Shopping Center. The retail center is owned by Monroe-based Tartaglia Commercial Properties.

The announcement of Pier 1’s closing comes nearly a full year after the closing of Foodworks, a natural foods store that was located in in the same shopping center. That closing, along with the relocation of Consignment Originals from the Cheshire Shopping Center to the Maplecroft Plaza a few miles north on Route 10, leaves Tartaglia Commercial Properties three large vacancies to fill in its 81,000-square-foot retail center.

David Cadden, a professor emeritus at Quinnipiac University's School of Business, said too much vacant space in a retail center for any length of time can make new tenants more difficult.

“Once, you get to a certain level of vacancies, people start to wonder if it’s a good location,” Cadden said.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com