That is one development sure to catch the retail enthusiast off guard, Bed Bath & Beyond, the fan favorite that closed its doors last year in 2023, will return to brick-and-mortar stores. It’s a second chance at life for a brand that found shoppers, in the wake of bankruptcy and store closures, watching their favorite products make their way back onto store shelves courtesy of a new strategic partnership with the Container Store.
The death of Bed Bath & Beyond
Bed Bath & Beyond was once an iconic American retail company, enjoyed for its vast home goods offerings and its own fascinating shopping experience. Filing bankruptcy in April 2023, the company had already seen its highs and lows. Poor sales, along with competition from online retailers, including not being attuned to the consumer taste changes, ripped the company apart. After Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company shut all physical locations. Many customers bemoaned the loss of a favorite place to shop.
Those bankruptcy proceedings included the sale of Bed Bath & Beyond’s intellectual property assets for $21.5 million to Overstock.com back this June. Beyond that purchase, Overstock rebranded itself Beyond Inc., a new direction for the company and its legacy brands.
Strategic partnership with the container store
In a deal sure to thrill Bed Bath & Beyond enthusiasts, Beyond Inc. reportedly invested $40 million into the Container Store Group. The partnership aims at renewing the brand with the placement of Bed Bath & Beyond-branded products in the stores of the Container Store; this will cover dedicated areas that will have a number of products for the kitchen, bath, and bedroom, linking two favorite retail experiences.
The Container Store Chief Executive Officer Satish Malhotra can’t be more bullish about the deal-a deepening of relationships with customers, driving more traffic into stores, raising profitability. It forms part of the bigger retail landscape whereby legacy brands are creatively finding ways to increase the value of existing infrastructure and bases in this challenging time for consumer shopping habits.
How physical retail survives
The resurgence of Bed Bath & Beyond points to a much larger story of resilience for brick-and-mortar. While there were a lot of retailers that had struggled to find their footing post-pandemic, it would seem more times than not, brick-and-mortar learns to adapt, morphing into something more rather than simply disappearing. Online shopping has continued to grow yet reports show physical stores are still filling in crucial gaps in consumer needs.
Indeed, statistics prove that generally, in-store sales have rebounded from those peak disruptions caused by the pandemic. Yes, store openings for most successful retailers do seem to outpace closures as they start capitalizing on a consumer behavior and preference shift. What that could insinuate is, while e-commerce is here to stay, it does not spell doom for physical retail but an evolution whereby stores would be the touchpoints of an omnichannel shopping experience.
What to expect from consumers
With the revamp of Bed Bath & Beyond with the Container Store, there are going to be a few improvements that consumers will be expecting:
- Product mix: A select range of Bed Bath & Beyond products would be available for the customers at the locations of the Container Store.
- Loyalty programs: A global loyalty program for rewarding customers with respect to all of their merchandise derived through both groups would be chalked out by the partnership.
- Innovative shopping: Not to mention the host of other in-store options that customers will find from different solutions to make payments and ancillary services comprising insurance and protection products.
With them bringing back items favored by customers, the in-store shopping experience shall also see an enhancement in the new model by leveraging both the brands.
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