This company loves to move in where Sears fails

The plan is to keep growing at a 20 percent rate, with another 15 to 20 stores expected to open in 2015most of them at locations other retailers have shuttered.

"There's still a lot of empty boxes out there and there will be for a long time," At Home CEO Lewis Bird III said in an interview this week. "We're the only retailer looking for a big box format."

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While At Home isn't usually the only bidder for abandoned locations, supply has outweighed demand in recent years. A confluence of factors including the financial crisis and resulting recession, along with tough online competition, has forced many retailers to close stores that make little or no profit.

Bird acknowledges that struggling retailers have created an opportunity since the financial crisis. "It would have been harder 10 years ago," he said. These days, retailers simply get in touch with At Home when they plan to close stores, making the hunt even easier, he said.

Of course, it's not all about capitalizing on the failure of other retailers. At Home has built five out of 26 of the new stores added in the last two years, Bird said.

But it appears that abandoned locations are often too good to pass up. In 2013, for instance, Target closed eight stores and At Home took six of the locations, Bird said.

Bird pointed out that there are usually other bidders for the spaces he seeks, but they aren't his rivals. "There are churches and charter schools, but not retailers," he said.

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Low property costs allow At Home to keep prices down, which has supported sales growth. In addition to expansion, the company continues to generate positive same-store sales, Bird said.

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This company loves to move in where Sears fails