Bed Bath & Beyond is hosting liquidation sales this weekend as it prepares to close its doors for the last time.
Key Details
- On April 23, Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after months of rapid store closures to stave off the brand’s end.
- As of Sunday, July 30, all 367 Bed Bath & Beyond locations and 115 buybuy Baby locations will close for the final time.
- The remaining locations are hosting massive liquidation sales with as much as 75% to 90% off items store-wide in some locations, Axios reports.
- Overstock.com purchased the “Bed Bath & Beyond” name and will rebrand with the defunct store as its new name for the online retailer giant.
Why It’s Important
The rise of the internet and online retailers has resulted in massive consolidation and shrinking market demand for brick-and-mortar stores like Bed Bath & Beyond, which previously contributed to the decline of stores like Toys R Us in 2018 and Circuit City in 2008.
As the academic business journal Knowledge At Wharton writes, the brand had faced years of decreasing performance and increasing debt, with the company selling bonds to engage in stock buybacks.
Retail stores like Walmart and Target were fast enough to jump on the e-commerce bandwagon while it was still nascent, but Bed Bath & Beyond failed to do so, forcing it to tighten its pockets amid COVID, cutting back on coupons and deals, and scaring away its remaining loyal customer base.
“There are a few things that predicted the beginning of the end. The growth in e-commerce and Amazon hurt the core concept. Category killers were built on the idea of large assortments at good prices, but e-commerce websites typically had larger assortments and better prices,” says University of Pennsylvania Barbara Kahn.
“It’s an inauspicious end for a 52-year-old business that became known as a category killer for its domination of the housewares market,” says Angie Basiouny.
