Bed Bath & Beyond’s Executive Chairman, Marcus Lemonis, announced on Wednesday that the company will not open or operate retail stores in California. He said the decision “isn’t about politics – it’s about reality.”
In a statement on X, Lemonis explained that higher taxes, higher fees, higher wages, and “endless regulations that strangle growth” make it difficult for the company to operate successfully in California.
“California has created one of the most overregulated, expensive, and risky environments for businesses in America,” Lemonis said. He added that the state’s policies make it harder to hire employees, keep stores open, and provide value to customers.
Lemonis also criticized the state’s budget surpluses, saying they come at the expense of “ordinary citizens who are paying too much and businesses who are squeezed until they break.”
Despite not opening stores in California, Lemonis said the company is investing in a plan to serve California customers through BedBathandBeyond.com. Products will be delivered within 24 to 48 hours, and in some cases, same-day service will be offered. This approach helps avoid the “inflated costs created by an unsustainable model.”
This move comes as Bed Bath & Beyond works to regain relevance after its 2023 collapse due to mounting debt and failed turnaround attempts. The retailer recently opened its first Bed Bath & Beyond Home store in Nashville under its parent company, which was renamed from Beyond Inc. to Bed Bath & Beyond this week.
In 2023, the original Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed all physical stores after struggling with “poor inventory management, slow adoption of online shopping trends and overreliance on coupon shopping,” according to Reuters.
Overstock.com bought the brand name, domain, and other assets for $21.5 million in June 2023 and relaunched the website by August. In November 2023, Overstock rebranded its corporate identity as Beyond, Inc. In February, Kirkland’s Inc. invested $25 million in Beyond, allowing it to become the exclusive brick-and-mortar operator for new, smaller-format “neighborhood” Bed Bath & Beyond locations nationwide.
Earlier this week, Lemonis said the company changed its corporate name to Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc., and its common stock will begin trading under the ticker symbol BBBY on the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 29. The goal is to grow the Bed Bath & Beyond brand while also building Overstock.com “back to a billion-dollar nameplate” and maximizing the value of its blockchain assets, tZERO and GrainChain.
