Popular formerly bankrupt retail chain makes brick-and-mortar comeback

It seems that it has become increasingly more common, even for the biggest retailers, to close all their stores or file for bankruptcy rather than reinvest in their struggling brands and open new locations.

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Although times are hard and finances might be tighter due to inflation and unpredictable economic challenges, finding ways to take that leap of faith and persistence can sometimes be worth it when a brand is so iconic.

Related: Formerly bankrupt retail giant will return to physical stores

If a brand was once able to build a cult following and keep it up for years, it can do so again, no matter how much competition it might have to defeat.

One retail chain took some of the hardest hits, with declining sales, a mass shutdown, and a bankruptcy that almost led to it being banished forever. But against all odds, it prevailed. 

Bed Bath & Beyond shoppers loaded up on products before the company filed for bankruptcy and shuttered all locations.

Image source: rblfmr/Shutterstock

Bed Bath & Beyond files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closes all physical stores

After over 50 years in business, Bed Bath & Beyond  (BBBY)  filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2023 and was forced to close all its existing stores. The company had accumulated $1.8 billion in long-term debt. At the time of the filing, it had 360 Bed Bath & Beyond stores and 120 buybuy BABY locations.

Two months later, Beyond Inc. BYON, formerly Overstock  (OSTK) , acquired Bed Bath & Beyond for $21.5 million in a transaction that excluded the company’s brick-and-mortar business and the buybuy BABY brand, causing the brands to split.

The sealing of this deal would also mark the end of Bed Bath & Beyond’s physical stores, turning the brand into a fully online retailer.

Related: Formerly bankrupt retail giant finalizes deal to return to physical stores

However, Bed Bath & Beyond and The Container Store  (TCS)  announced they had entered a strategic partnership in October last year to offer both brands in one place, effectively returning Bed Bath & Beyond merchandise to physical locations.

That same month, Beyond Inc. and Kirkland’s  (KIRK)  agreed to join forces to sell Bed Bath & Beyond products at Kirkland’s locations to expand its physical exposure and make it the exclusive licensee to develop physical Bed Bath & Beyond stores with a smaller format.

Beyond is reunited with buybuy BABY

Now that Bed Bath & Beyond has reestablished its brand in physical stores, it was time for the company to reunite it with its former sister brand, something it had intended to do from the beginning. 

Beyond acquired buybuy BABY in February of this year, aiming to revive the brand and return its merchandise to brick-and-mortar settings like it did with Bed Bath & Beyond a few months back. 

The name might be deceiving, but buybuy BABY is here to stay because its online store will relaunch on May 8. 

But that’s not all. Thanks to Beyond’s agreement with Kirkland, the company may also sell buybuy BABY merchandise and open physical stores for the brand.

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Additionally, Beyond revealed during its latest earnings call that it plans to open at least four Overstock stores and is launching a new Bed Bath & Beyond branch called “Bed Bath & Beyond Home.” This latest extension is intended to be a standalone Bed Bath & Beyond featuring merchandise it sells online, but with a focus on home decor. 

“We believe that the assortment coming from Bed Bath & Beyond, and potentially Overstock, into those Bed Bath Home stores, and in the future some of those Kirkland stores, starts to level the playing field and makes the Kirkland stores and the Bed Bath Home stores real players in the off-price, highly curated, well-merchandised, non-dumpster looking environment that we believe customers are looking for,” said Beyond Executive Chairman and Principal Executive Officer Marcus Lemonis during the earnings call.

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