The Container Store’s new logo—why the brand is updating for the first time

The Container Store unveiled its first new logo as part of a rebrand and digital overhaul that will include a mobile app and new loyalty program.

The Container Store’s new logo—why the brand is updating for the first time

The retailer known for helping consumers organize is doing some reorganization of its own. The Container Store is rolling out a new logo, tagline and campaign designed to digitize the brand and capture more market share in the home products category.

The new logo, the brand’s first overhaul in its 44-year history, abandons the encapsulated “The Container Store” and replaces it with a brand mark of three nested baskets that appear with the chain's name. Using a simple icon will help give the Coppell, Texas-based company a presence on smartphones as The Container Store rolls out its first mobile app next month, according to Melissa Collins, chief marketing officer.

“We’ve never really had an icon that we could carry through on some applications,” she said, noting smaller mobile devices. “We just didn’t show up, it was too tiny so really deciding to work on an icon—it was time.”

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'The power of organization'

The new campaign follows last year’s revamped brand purpose that moved from one of function to one of emotion, Collins said.“We moved to a more emotional thinking about what it means in a person’s life to be organized—the brand purpose of The Container Store exists to transform lives through the power of organization,” she said.

During the first year of the pandemic, many consumers flocked to sellers of home products such as The Container Store and Bed Bath & Beyond as they outfitted new offices and home-based classrooms. Last summer, The Container Store reported a fiscal first-quarter profit—its first in a decade. Now, it faces the challenge of sales slowing from those recent highs. Earlier this month, the brand reported fiscal third-quarter net sales of $267.3 million, a 3% decline from the year-earlier period, and predicted a steeper year-over-year sales decline for the current fiscal fourth quarter.

The company, founded in 1978, is trying to regain some pandemic momentum by opening new stores and overhauling its digital offerings. Along with the mobile app coming in March, the retailer will reveal a new tier-based loyalty program. Executives expect the new icon, with its three baskets, will help promote the new tiers of loyalty. The new logo was quietly rolled out in recent days online and in customer-facing emails.

Consumers are still looking for home organization products for their offices and kitchens, Collins said. In addition, customers are starting to clean out their closets now as well.