[2] On 23 October 1958,[3] William Amthor and Lincoln Bartlett[4] opened the first Cost Plus Imports store at 2552 Taylor Street on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California.

Unable to offload the pieces via wholesale, they rented 4,000 square feet (370 m2) of warehouse space in the Fisherman's Wharf area.

The stores featured an eclectic mix of imported furniture and home furnishings, displayed in the style of a bazaar.

By 2008 the company was operating at a loss, and rebuffed an 88.4 million dollar takeover bid by Pier 1 Imports.

[12] The website posts items for one month at a time, and sells only products that attract enough pre-orders to be worthwhile.