Container Store 

goes private

The Container Store Group is ready for a future as a private company after bankruptcy proceedings.

The Coppell, Texas, based retail chain, which offers storage boxes and other organization options, intends to “exist and operate as a private company,” according to a court filing. The move is part of a plan to emerge from bankruptcy. It filed under Chapter 11 in December.

The Container Store is looking for a new chapter of success after struggling to attract more customer dollars as it grapples with rising competition from places such as Amazon.com. Its comparable store sales dropped 12.5% in the fiscal second quarter that ended in September compared to the year-ago period.

The company aims to execute the plan for emerging from bankruptcy as soon as next week, said Hugh Murtagh, lawyer for The Container Store Group, last week in court. The deal includes $40 million in fresh financing from the debtor-in-possession term lenders.

US consumer

confidence dips 

U.S. consumer confidence dipped for the second consecutive month in January. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index retreated in January to 104.1 from 109.5 in December. Analysts had forecast a reading of 105.8. December’s reading was revised up by 4.8 points but still represented a decline from November. Consumers had been feeling increasingly confident until the past two months, spending more in the run-up to the all-important holiday shopping season. The consumer confidence index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months.

Adidas layoffs

to miss Oregon

A mass layoff that’s about to slam the European headquarters of Adidas won’t hit the company’s Portland office.

Last week, CNBC and others reported the Germany-based company will eliminate as many as 500 jobs at its Herzogenaurach headquarters. On Monday, the company said the job cuts will not impact its North American headquarters, which is in North Portland’s Overlook neighborhood.

Adidas employs about 1,500 people in Portland, making it the area’s third-largest employer in the sportswear industry after Nike and Columbia Sportswear.

In a statement, the company said the cuts are designed to “reduce complexity.”

Last week, Adidas also reported preliminary earnings that included a 19% increase in fourth-quarter sales and a 12% increase in annual sales.

By contrast, Adidas rival Nike in December reported an 8% drop in quarterly sales as it works to reset its business after becoming too reliant on retro sneakers and direct sales in its stores and on its website and mobile apps.

Nike last year laid off more than 700 workers in Portland, part of a 2% reduction in its global workforce.