Industry | Manufacturing |
---|---|
Founded | Ohio (1919) |
Headquarters | Cincinnati, Ohio |
Website | http://organizedliving.com/ |
Industry | Retail |
---|---|
Founded | Kansas (1985) |
Revenue | USD Est. $75-100 million in 2004-05 [1] |
Number of employees | ~1000 in 2004-05 [2] |
Organized Living, formerly known as Schulte Corp., [3] is a company that manufactures storage and organization products for the home, sold through independent dealers in the United States and Canada. [4] Prior to 2007, Organized Living was a specialty retail chain in the United States that sold storage solutions for home and office.
In 1985, Mark Ferrel founded the company as Containers Unlimited, in Kansas, [1] [2] with its first location in Overland Park. [5] In 1993, the then-two store chain changed its name from Containers and More to Organized Living. [6] By mid-1996, the chain had three stores (the original location plus two others in St. Louis) and next expanded by adding two stores in Las Vegas, in early 1997. [5] As it grew, the company consciously decided to focus expansion on markets not already served by The Container Store, its primary competitor. [7] As of mid-2000, the chain had grown to 11 stores. [8]
The store eventually grew to 25 stores before filing for bankruptcy in 2005, after planned financing did not come to fruition. [9] [1] After private equity firm Saunders Karp & Megrue bought a majority stake in the company, [2] the former head of Bath & Body Works, Beth Pritchard, was hired in January 2004 to grow the chain into a national presence. [10] Pritchard also moved the company's headquarters from Lenexa, Kansas, in the Kansas City area, to Westerville, Ohio, near Columbus. [1] Pritchard was released in May 2005 during the bankruptcy proceedings. [11] Pritchard cited changes in Saunder Karp's commitment to finance growth as the cause of the collapse. [2]
Schulte Corp., one of the company's biggest creditors, obtained rights to the Organized Living name in the bankruptcy proceedings, and operated OrganizedLiving.com as an online retailer through 2012. [12] On January 1, 2013, Schulte Corp. changed its corporate name to Organized Living and relaunched OrganizedLiving.com as its new website.[ citation needed]
Industry | Manufacturing |
---|---|
Founded | Ohio (1919) |
Headquarters | Cincinnati, Ohio |
Website | http://organizedliving.com/ |
Industry | Retail |
---|---|
Founded | Kansas (1985) |
Revenue | USD Est. $75-100 million in 2004-05 [1] |
Number of employees | ~1000 in 2004-05 [2] |
Organized Living, formerly known as Schulte Corp., [3] is a company that manufactures storage and organization products for the home, sold through independent dealers in the United States and Canada. [4] Prior to 2007, Organized Living was a specialty retail chain in the United States that sold storage solutions for home and office.
In 1985, Mark Ferrel founded the company as Containers Unlimited, in Kansas, [1] [2] with its first location in Overland Park. [5] In 1993, the then-two store chain changed its name from Containers and More to Organized Living. [6] By mid-1996, the chain had three stores (the original location plus two others in St. Louis) and next expanded by adding two stores in Las Vegas, in early 1997. [5] As it grew, the company consciously decided to focus expansion on markets not already served by The Container Store, its primary competitor. [7] As of mid-2000, the chain had grown to 11 stores. [8]
The store eventually grew to 25 stores before filing for bankruptcy in 2005, after planned financing did not come to fruition. [9] [1] After private equity firm Saunders Karp & Megrue bought a majority stake in the company, [2] the former head of Bath & Body Works, Beth Pritchard, was hired in January 2004 to grow the chain into a national presence. [10] Pritchard also moved the company's headquarters from Lenexa, Kansas, in the Kansas City area, to Westerville, Ohio, near Columbus. [1] Pritchard was released in May 2005 during the bankruptcy proceedings. [11] Pritchard cited changes in Saunder Karp's commitment to finance growth as the cause of the collapse. [2]
Schulte Corp., one of the company's biggest creditors, obtained rights to the Organized Living name in the bankruptcy proceedings, and operated OrganizedLiving.com as an online retailer through 2012. [12] On January 1, 2013, Schulte Corp. changed its corporate name to Organized Living and relaunched OrganizedLiving.com as its new website.[ citation needed]