Continued growth
In the mid-2000s, Blair began to struggle with declining sales, due to the recession in the economy.[9] In 2007, Blair shareholders approved a merger deal with Appleseed's (later renamed Orchard Brands), a subsidiary of Golden Gate Capital Partners.[10] Orchard Brands is a holding of several different catalog retailers who target the same market. Under the leadership of Orchard Brands, Blair has seen re-organization and increased efficiency, as well as growth as Blair facilities are being expanded to handle orders from other Orchard Brand companies. Blair's modern distribution center is being used to ship not only Blair orders, but orders for some sister companies as well. The call center operations have been expanded as well, to handle orders from those companies.[11] After the merger, it was announced that 500 new jobs would be created in the region, due to the expansion at the Blair facilities.[12] In 2007, Blair was ranked the 118th largest internet retailer by InternetRetailer.com. In 2010, Blair president and CEO Shelley Nandkeolyar announced his resignation, and he was followed by Dave Matthews, who served as interim CEO. It was also announced that Blair, as part of Orchard brands, was the 59th largest internet retailer.[13] In April 2010, Dave Walde was announced as the new Blair CEO. Previously, Walde had served as the chief financial officer for Orchard Brands.[14] In 2011, Orchard Brands went through a bankruptcy; it exited under the control of debtholders, including American Capital.[15] Orchard Brands had sales of US$ 1.02 billion in 2014.
On May 27, 2015, Orchard Brands announced it was being acquired by Capmark Financial to be another business within the Bluestem Brands retail business.[16] Bluestem also owns Fingerhut.
In February 2018, Chris Wilson was named President of Orchard Brands with responsibility for the 11 brands that make up the portfolio.[17]
On March 9, 2020, the company's parent Bluestem Brands, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.[18]
As of August 19, 2025, Blair no longer accepts new orders.
