At Home (HOME) began trading on the NYSE on 4 August 2016

Home décor retailer At Home is the first retailer to IPO this year

• Sector: Consumer Cyclical
• Industry: Specialty Retail
• Full Time Employees: 5,364
• Founded in 1979 
• Headquartered in Plano, Texas
• https://www.athome.com/

The brick-and-mortar retailer on Thursday debuted on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol HOME, with shares most recently trading at $15.15 apiece—just 15 cents above the issue price.

At Home is unprofitable despite the fact that revenue is growing steadily, reaching nearly $500 million last year as the retailer continues to sell more pillows, furnishings, and other home goods using a low pricing strategy that requires few discounts.

Chief Executive Lee Bird shrugged off the initial market response. “We are a high growth retailer,” he says. “We believe we are an attractive company to investors because we will deliver on the growth expectations.”

The store growth story at At Home is also alluring. The retailer operates 115 stores across 29 states but sees potential to expand the concept to as many as 600 locations. It hasn’t yet addressed some of the biggest retail markets, including California and the New York tri-state area. But Bird says results are encouraging in similar markets, like Phoenix and D.C., indicating the concept can be successful when expanded to more states.

Betting on At Home means investors are comfortable with the retailer’s all-in strategy on physical stores. It doesn’t yet operate an e-commerce business and has a very minimal social media presence. At Home says it hasn’t yet committed to eventually conducting a business online.