A Pier 1 Imports store in Danvers' Liberty Tree Mall in 2012. Photo courtesy of Anthony92931 / CC BY-SA 3.0

Pier 1 Imports plans to close the eight stores it operates in Massachusetts as it prepares to wind down operations nation-wide.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based home furnishings retailer announced Tuesday that it has filed a motion seeking a judge’s approval to begin an orderly wind-down of the company’s retail operations “as soon as reasonably possible” after store locations are able to reopen following government-mandated closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the wind-down, the company intends to sell its inventory and remaining assets, including its intellectual property and e-commerce business, through the court-supervised process.

Pier 1 filed for bankruptcy in April. The company currently operates stores in Hyannis, North Dartmouth, Hanover, Norwood, Bellingham, Shrewsbury, Woburn and Danvers, down from 14 it operated at the time of its bankruptcy filing.

“We are grateful to our dedicated and hardworking associates, millions of customers and committed vendors who have collectively supported Pier 1 for decades. We deeply value our associates, customers, business partners and the communities in which we operate, and this is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve,” CEO and CFO Robert Riesbeck said in a statement. “This decision follows months of working to identify a buyer who would continue to operate our business going forward. Unfortunately, the challenging retail environment has been significantly compounded by the profound impact of COVID-19, hindering our ability to secure such a buyer and requiring us to wind down.”

The company’s announcement cited the “combination of a challenging retail environment and the new reality and uncertainty of a post-COVID world” as its primary reasons. It hopes to auction off its assets in early July.

Pier 1 was founded in 1962 in California, where it made its name selling incense, beanbag chairs and love beads. The company moved to Texas in 1966 and went public in 1970. But in recent years, it struggled to draw customers to its often cramped and cluttered stores. The company has been trying to streamline its merchandise, improve online sales and draw in younger customers, but was unable to break through, particularly in the face of competition from Target and other retailers.