Love is in the Air: The Container Store Declares February 14 'We Love Our Employees Day'

DALLAS, Feb. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Container Store, the nation's originator and leading retailer of storage and organization products, today shows its love and appreciation for its 4000 employees across the country by celebrating its "National We Love Our Employees Day". The Container Store's employees will be treated to special celebrations, gifts and recognition at the retailer's stores across the country, its home office and distribution center in Dallas, and across the pond with its employee partners at elfa International.

Celebrations and gifts include boxes full of product donated by company vendors for each employee, special "We Love Our Employees Day" T-shirts, a note and video message from company executives and Godiva chocolates. In each of The Container Store's 49 locations from coast to coast, love songs will play throughout the day, balloons will decorate each store and customers will be encouraged to share the love and leave "love notes" for their favorite employees. The company will also surprise employees with a full-page ad in The New York Times, an ad in The Dallas Morning News, customer emails, posts on Facebook and Twitter, related stories on the company's blog (http://standfor.containerstore.com), outdoor and online messaging, in-store signage and messaging through the stores' music systems.

"If you work to make your employees the happiest employees around, well then I assure you that they will absolutely, positively then make your customers the happiest customers around. And if those two are ecstatic, then wonderfully and almost ironically you'll have the happiest shareholders around, too," said Kip Tindell, The Container Store Chairman and CEO. "While we honor our employees all year round, celebrating National We Love Our Employees Day is just one example of how our employee-first culture manifests itself in our business."

With an employee turnover rate at less than 10% (compared to retail industry average of 100% or more) - love for the company's culture is evident in the retailer's seasoned and very tenured employee base. But employee pride is not the only way love presents itself. Nearly 40 couples have either met while working at the company or were recruited by a partner/spouse to join the company. That includes Tindell and his wife Sharon, the company's Chief Merchandising Officer, who has been involved in the company since 1980.

"Research has shown that a loving environment causes the brains of those in it to produce the neurotransmitter oxytocin. Oxytocin is the "moral molecule" which motivates us to care for those around us as part of the reciprocity initiated by love," said Paul J. Zak, founding Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies, Professor of Economics, Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University and recognized expert in oxytocin. "It is not easy to create a culture of love, but by doing this, employees are happier and serve the needs of customers better. Love creates employee engagement, builds customer loyalty and creates sustainable businesses."

The Container Store attributes its success and 26% annual compounded growth rate since its 1978 inception to its employees-first culture and values-based business philosophies called Foundation Principles. These Foundation Principles guide company business decisions with the company's interdependent circle of stakeholders top of mind - with employees always first. Recent thought and business leaders have called this approach to business Conscious Capitalism, a movement Tindell plays a large role in promoting (read more at http://standfor.containerstore.com).

In addition to unprecedented retail financial performance as a result of its employee-first culture, The Container Store is noted for the following accolades and differentiators:

• Recognition as an employer-of-choice on FORTUNE magazine's list of "100 Best Companies to Work For" for 12 consecutive years
• High levels of customer service delivered with a solutions-based approach
• Commitment to no layoffs (even during the recent economic environment)
• More than 263 hours of training for first-year, full-time employees (compared to industry average of seven to 10 hours)
• Continued expansion from coast to coast with more stores planned for 2011
• A "Communication is Leadership" philosophy that results in every employee receiving and/or having access to every detail of company information, including financials, real estate expansion plans and more
• In January of 2011, Kip Tindell, on behalf of The Container Store, was presented with the retail industry's highest honor, the National Retail Federation's Gold Medal award.

About The Container Store:

The Container Store currently has 49 locations across the country and offers 10,000 time- and space-saving organization solutions. The Container Store offers free closet design services every day in its stores and online using elfa, the premiere shelving and drawer system. Visit www.containerstore.com for more information about store locations, the product collection and services offered. Sales for fiscal year 2011 will approach $650 million. The Container Store is privately held.

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SOURCE The Container Store