Bed Bath & Beyond is back and will take your old coupons

[Bed Bath & Beyond store]
marekuliasz

Bed Bath & Beyond and the legacy "20%-off coupons" are back, with a new rebranded chain to be called Bed Bath & Beyond Home. The first store has opened, or more accurately, been "converted," in Brentwood, Tennessee, with plans to convert another 75 stores through 2026 (see below). It's the latest chapter in the saga of the storied company and a renewed vote of confidence for physical retail locations.

_Backdrop: _The first Bed 'n Bath store opened in 1971, but the firm went public under the "BBBY" ticker in 1992 - eventually adding the buybuy Baby, Cost Plus World Market, and Christmas Tree Shops chains. At its peak, the business operated more than 1,500 U.S. and Canadian locations. Missing the boat on the internet, Bed Bath began to falter in 2019, posting its first-ever annual loss as activist investors began a push [https://seekingalpha.com/news/3445614-bed-bath-and-beyond-plus-16-percent-with-activists-gearing-up] to remove then-CEO Steven Temares and restructure BBBY's board.

Store closures accelerated in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Bed Bath began scaling back the use of the ubiquitous 20%-off coupons that it had regularly been mailing to millions of U.S. households. Leadership shakeups and dismal holiday seasons ensued, while the chain faced increasing competition from industry players like Amazon (AMZN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AMZN]) and Walmart (WMT [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WMT]) to HomeGoods (TJX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TJX]) and Wayfair (W [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/W]). Bed Bath ultimately filed for bankruptcy in 2023, with Overstock.com buying its intellectual property and rebranding its business to Beyond Inc. (NYSE:BYON [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BYON]).

Beyond (NYSE:BYON [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BYON]) initially tried to launch the Bed Bath brand as an online store and mobile app, and even began selling its merchandise at Container Store locations in 2024, but the bigger push came earlier this year [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4404082-kirklands-closes-25m-beyond-investment]. Beyond (BYON [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BYON]) took a stake in Kirkland's, a home goods chain with about 300 stores across America, while giving it a license to develop Bed Bath & Beyond Home stores. In June, Kirkland's rebranded to The Brand House Collective (NASDAQ:TBHC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TBHC]), detailing a plan to accelerate store conversions [https://seekingalpha.com/pr/20138603-kirklands-inc-to-rebrand-as-the-brand-house-collective-inc-accelerating-brand-conversions] by utilizing the iconic Bed Bath & Beyond family of brands.

OUTLOOK: "When you think back to Bed Bath & Beyond in the past, you think of the gadget wall and towel wall, they really didn't have home decor and furnishings, so we've merged those two," said Amy Sullivan, CEO & Creative Officer of The Brand House Collective (NASDAQ:TBHC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TBHC]). "There's a sense of community and coming back and engaging, and entertainment and hospitality, that has really brought a resurgence back to brick-and-mortar. This isn't just a store. It's a fresh start for a brand that means something special to so many families."

_WALL STREET BREAKFAST SURVEY:_ Would you consider investing in a company that is primarily a physical store retailer in 2025? Take the poll here [https://forms.gle/immUGKA3HQeJ5E5RA] and share how it might continue to impact markets in the comments section.