Grace Noto
4 min read
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The volatility of the current tariff environment sped up “the need for a comprehensive solution” for struggling retailer At Home, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, CFO Jeremy Aguilar said in a first day declaration filing.
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Prior to its decision to file for bankruptcy, the Dallas, Texas-based home goods provider was already facing numerous challenges, including increasingly strained liquidity stemming from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing headwinds in the overall retail industry, upcoming debt maturities and a “going concern” audit opinion, Aguilar said in the Monday filing. The retailer’s “liquidity constraints were exacerbated and accelerated by the introduction of new tariff policies in 2025,” he said.
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Citing the impact of the Trump administration’s on-again off-again tariff policies, the “uncertainty of ongoing U.S. trade negotiations intensified the financial pressure on the company,” Aguilar said. The company, which “relies heavily on foreign suppliers, was — and remains — significantly impacted by these tariff policies,” he wrote.
In its fiscal 2025, approximately 90% of the retailer’s products were sourced from overseas, with 55% of its total sourcing purchased directly from foreign product partners in countries including China, Vietnam, and India, Aguilar said. While the company had experience navigating tariff changes over the past few years, “the current tariff policy dynamic introduced a new level of uncertainty and volatility during the early stages of the new senior management team’s implementation of its refined business strategy,” Aguilar wrote.
Aguilar took the CFO seat in December 2024 after newly-appointed CEO Brad Weston — an alum of Petco and Party City, who assumed the top executive role that June — moved to recruit new senior leaders and “recalibrate At Home’s strategy and operational focus,” he said in the Monday filing.
Prior to At Home, Aguilar most recently served as finance chief for residential solar company Trinity Solar, and has also served as EVP and CFO for Bob’s Discount Furniture, according to his LinkedIn profile. His past experience also includes serving as finance chief for Sports Authority for a two-year period ended July 2016, coming after the sports retailer filed for bankruptcy in March of that year, CFO Dive sister publication Retail Dive reported at the time.
