Pier 1 Imports store. Courtesy photo Pier 1 Imports store. Courtesy photo

Pier 1 Imports Inc. quietly elevated a familiar presence in the firm's legal department to the role of general counsel earlier this month. 

Ray McKown, who has worked as an in-house lawyer at the home furnishings and decor firm for 15 years, took over as the top lawyer, senior vice president and corporate secretary on Feb. 12. He succeeds Robert Bostrom, who died suddenly in January.  

A spokesman for Pier 1, responding to an email inquiry sent Tuesday, confirmed McKown's appointment on Wednesday afternoon but declined to provide additional information about McKown's promotion or make him available for an interview. 

McKown was named general counsel days before Pier 1 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Eastern District of Virginia. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company lists $426,585,000 in assets and $258,254,000 in debt. It owes nearly $5.6 million to its largest creditor, Guangzhou Nanfang Furniture Co. Ltd. of China. 

Now, Pier 1 is "pursuing a sale of the company" as it begins the process of closing up to 450 of its 942 stores in the U.S. and Canada, including all of its locations in Canada, and two distribution centers. 

McKown joined Pier 1 in 2005 as a corporate counsel and climbed the legal department ladder, serving as senior corporate counsel, associate general counsel and vice president. He was named assistant secretary in 2018.

He began his legal career in 2001 as an associate at the Fort Worth law firm of Brackett & Ellis before moving to another associate position at Sheldon, Jordan & Dunham in Beaumont, Texas, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

In that same profile, McKown describes himself as a "business-minded advisor with 10 plus years of broad in-house counsel experience advising executive and leadership teams in various practice areas."

His predecessor, Bostrom, died a year after he was appointed as Pier 1's chief lawyer. The 67-year-old's cause of death has not been released. Before he joined Pier 1, Bostrom served as general counsel of Abercrombie & Fitch Co.  

Shortly after taking the Pier 1 job, Bostrom told Corporate Counsel that he looked "forward to partnering with both the leadership team and board and leveraging my industry experience."

He added, "I believe Pier 1 has a tremendous heritage, an inclusive culture focused on success and the underlying operational strength that will position us to drive improved performance over the long term."

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