Nostalgic Retail Series #27 - BED BATH & BEYOND
Founded in 1971 as Bed ‘n Bath by Warren Eisenberg and Leonard Feinstein, the retailer grew to 18 stores over the next 14 years.
Adopting the superstore concept in 1985 to stay competitive (mainly with Linens ‘n Things) the company changed its name to Bed Bath & Beyond in 1987.
Growth ensued. By 1996, the chain had 100 stores, growing to 200 units by 1999, reaching the $1 billion sales milestone that same year.
In 2007, after a decade of significant growth, Bed Bath & Beyond acquired Buy Buy Baby, a chain founded by Leonard Feinstein’s sons. The acquisition spree continued in 2012 of Cost Plus World Market for $495 million, in 2016 with One Kings Lane and in 2017 of the online interior design company, Decorist.
In March of 2019, activist investors went after the current CEO and the board of directors with accusations of nepotism and other issues leading to poor business decisions. This led to many leadership changes throughout that year.
“To combat declining profitability, Bed Bath & Beyond, which had for decades used coupon mailers and other promotional discounting tactics to attract consumers, announced in April 2019 that it would reduce its use of promotional coupons and tighten restrictions on their use. The chain also announced the development of new private label brands and concept stores.” [Wikipedia] This was not received well by customers and caused significant backlash.
Throughout 2020, after growing to over 1,000 Bed Bath & Beyond stores, the retailer sold many of its previous acquisitions, including One Kings Lane, Christmas Tree Shops and Cost Plus Market.
More executive changes and financial strain (some from COVID and a lot from operational and financial decisions) over the next few years, leading the company to issue a warning to investors in 2023 that it might not survive the year.
“On April 23, 2023, after failing to pay off stock, declining sales, high debt, and years of struggling, Bed Bath & Beyond, Buy Buy Baby, and 73 affiliated debtors and entities officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection “ [Wikipedia]
Unable to sell stock, competitors marketing the fact that they would now accept Bed Bath & Beyond coupons that the retailer had stopped accepting and other failed measures caused all stores to close by July of 2023.
That same month, Overstock acquired the brand’s intellectual property for $21.5 million with the intention to rebrand itself (which it did in August of 2023.
Today the brand lives on through what was Overstock.com.
As a side note and having put two kids through college, I always thought the Bed Bath & Beyond college program where you could order at your local store and have it ready in your destination of choice for move-in was best in class and a niche that they mastered.
