The Decline of Bed Bath & Beyond...What Happened?

Loved shopping there. They always had everything you needed for your home. And yes we did take advantage of their coupons. I always thought to myself how they were covering their margins with such deep discounts. Now we all know.

I didn't know that the manager of the stores made stock decisions. I stopped going to the store when things I had purchased for years were no longer in stock and this was before the transition plan. One comment about the "website" what is the point of a website if you have to go to the store to pick something up, or the product is "in store only" which was a lie since I was just at the store to purchase the product. I am glad the one close to me closed down.

What smaller store? I don’t think that there was any such thing where I lived but maybe other places that was more likely. I liked Bed, Bath & Beyond.

I never got these coupons in the mail. But did walk around their stores a few times. Never bought anything tho.

Prices went up like crazy even with the cupon was too much

As a former employee, they made us scan incredibly old coupons, it wasnt just the 20% coupon, it was every coupon

I loved BB&B. Sad to see them go. Bad management I guess.

Their prices have always seemed nosebleed high to me, and that coupon was the only way I'd ever set foot in the stores. I didn't like the selections as a rule, and I didn't view their stuff as being high enough quality to compensate for the extra cash. Plus, I started seeing a lot of garbage for sale, cheap plastic gimmick stuff in large bins by each counter, plus similar larger versions elsewhere. That's always a bad sign to me; a store that wants you to think it's high-end should never have baskets of cheap plastic garbage lining the registers or on display. I guess they just never felt to me like they knew what they wanted to be.

One time I went in for curtains, an associate said they would send someone to get me the right size, I waited 20 minutes and left. That was probably the third time in my life I had ever walked in andI never went back lol

Inflation killed this specialty store. Walmart probably killed Bed Bath & Beyond like they did many other defunct corporations and countless small businesses. PS: You can always tell when the government doles out the food stamps--Walmart parking lots are packed full of people to the max. Until they spend all of their food stamp money.

After watching this, I think the big lesson is to never name your business after something that’s easily interchangeable with “Bad meth and beyond”.

January 2021 they got political by cancelling Mr. Pillow. That was the end of my business.

so i guess they're going to ruin overstock for us too??? ugh 🙄

They screwed over there online & web site designers & laid them off ,ironically they are only in business online these days ,it was more like Bloodbath & Beyond

Our Bed Bath & Beyond shut down toward the end of 2022. My mom still has a big pile of those blue coupons "Just in case they come back" lol

Worked there from 2016-2017. In August of 2017, they laid off 14 key holders from my store. The issue is that they focused too much on customer service that they'll rather make the customer happy instead of making profit. People would exploit this. For instance, the return policy was return anything, no questions asked. No time limit, no tags, mostly didnt need a receipt. So essentially, you can just buy 1 thing and exchange it when it was time for a new one. We lost a ton of money that way. Buy a $400 pot and pan set, and you can exchange it for a new one when it gets old and worn. And you can do this indefinitely as long as they still carry the product. People would steal items from the target next door and bring it to us to return and we couldnt do anything about it. I quit shortly after they laid do many managers off. I could tell it was going downhill

I got two 20% off coupons from them and I can’t use them because everything online is on sale…CONSTANTLY! I wish you can use them on sale items as well

Why were they pursuing such an aggressive buyback of their own stock?

They would literally sell the exact same products as other stores, for 30-50% more money…

The two original owners hahaha

As of 1/15/24 (probably sooner, this date is just when i found this video and decided to write this comment after a quick google search confirmed what i, a previously prospective customer, feared when i saw the Keizer location was closed), BB&B is now online only, so in person insistent shoppers like myself won't be doing business with them anytime soon.

Crazy how far they've fallen. We set up a wedding registry there in 2007 and own many of the appliances and dishes etc to this day from that time. We frequented the store for the next few years, especially with the 20% off coupons. I also remember them moving a ton of front floor space to As Seen on TV junk and completely overpriced Dyson stuff

All of them closed in Atlanta

R.I.P Bed Bath and Beyond 1975-2023

Anyone else studying BBB as a case in Business School, lol?

Joe Bidens new world order destroyed them.

I don't think the CFO killed him self. Hedge funds lost a lot of money naked shorting the stock and wanted to destroy BBB.

This reminds me of Pier One closing all of their stores. I love that store. I wonder what happened there. 😢

I always found them overpriced. Even when they were going out of business the prices were ridiculous.

I miss this store. In the beginning of my relationship I used to stroll through the isles looking for things to decorate our apartment.

Not a fan . Too pricey, sloppy layouts and I feel crowded in their stores by the layout they have.

RIP to a Legendary Once Popular Staple Bed Bath and Beyond that Sadly No longer Exists (as a Big Box Retailer). It’s all Amazon’s Fault, Blame it on Amazon for causing the Bankruptcy Bloodbath for BB&B.

I only lost my bed bath and beyond like about a few years ago it feels like.

My sister used to work at Bed Bath & Beyond, and while it started good, by the end, they cut her hours so bad, she was forced to find another job to continue supporting herself despite Bed Bath & Beyond heavily discouraging this. She even tried giving them a chance to keep her by bringing up that she couldn't live off of the paltry hours, but in the end, she had no choice but to leave. I think she worked there from 2011-2013 or so, though she can correct me if I'm wrong on those dates, but the general gist of it is, in hindsight, they had problems even before the dates mentioned in this video. In hindsight, cutting her hours horribly may have been foreshadowing to their current state. I just looked it up, and apparently, it's now closed. I just don't visit that town often. A miracle it held on as long as it did, honestly.

Former employee, worked there for 6 years (2012-2018). In the beginning the return policy was a joke and people took advantage! I remember someone returned a waterpik from 1999 and they still had the receipt so we had to take it back! No other company would allow that. People used to dumpster dive at my store and return Keurig coffee machines with cut cords and some were even spray painted lmao. I remember thinking “man we look like idiots taking these items back” but what could I do? 🤷🏼‍♂️ As long as you had a receipt, the return policy was unlimited. It was a complete shit show. My friends and I used to call it “Bed Bath & Borrow” 😂 I still don’t get how the company made money during those peak years with the outrageous free for all return policy. I was glad when they finally started cracking down on that.

But man, the management at my store was fucking horrible. I’ll never forget once it snowed badly in NY and my shift was supposed to start at 7am. So around 6am I called and said I wasn’t coming in because who is risking their life to drive in a snowstorm for a retail job? Anyway, they ended up closing the store AFTER I made the decision to call out. They decided to close around 6:30am (literally 15-20 mins after I had called out). Fast forward to the next day, my manager asked how I wanted to be paid for the snow day. I said.. “what do you mean? We were closed. Everyone is getting paid since you made the decision to close the store.” They tried telling me that since I called out BEFORE they made the decision to close, that I had to use a personal or vacation day. I was livid. They tried screwing me out of a personal or vacation day. Ended up calling HR and they handled it with my manager. No personal or vacation day came out of my bank. But yeah, that was the beginning of the end for me. Towards the end I didn’t care and would give all customers 20% off their order or mark down the “as is” items to literally $1 lol (wasn’t coming out of my paycheck 🤷🏼‍♂️). Lowkey this company got what they deserved with it going out of business.

I avoid them altogether as I used to work in their receiving department and most of their employees were rather stuck up - NOT all some were VERY nice this is just my experience though, your store may have been better.

What About The Decline of Ames Department Stores

I feel lucky to have been able to visit a Bed bath and beyond in it's closing days before they shut down completely. Managed to get a glass, a plate, a pillow, a throw-blanket, and hell, even a register calculator, since they were selling their assets to their customers as well. Even their carts were up for sale for at least $50 per small cart, and $100 per normal cart. Finally I can say carts are NOT free to buy. People just say it's free because they love to commit burglaries at their local grocery stores.

Looking for Halloween perfume

Debt is always the issue

Too bad so sad

One year later nd there's still people coping and hoping that it will come back despite actively being dead.

Omg you should do a video on KB Toys 😭 I was so devastated when they closed all their stores

So G America merger is off?

Rarely has buying back shares while already in debt been a good sign for a company. Whenever I see that happening I run for the hills.

Financially responsible leadership typically reduces debt first in order to stabilize finances and give themselves room to maneuver. If debt load increases too much then you are vulnerable to "forced moves" like in chess--moves you HAVE to make that almost always make your position worse, like when people over-leverage and get margin calls.

Buying back stock in your own company very rarely improves your real situation, and is mainly intended to fool investors into thinking management believes an improvement is more likely. However, this is a scam in my opinion--if officers really believed in their own company they would be buying personal shares for themselves.

Is Bath and Body Works related to Bed Bath and Beyond. I always think of the two as cousins.

Today is December 14, 2024. Two years ago I went to a shopping center in Silverdale, Washington that’s anchored by Trader Joe’s, Bed Bath and Beyond and a Goodwill mega store. While my mom shopped in Trader Joe’s I ventured into Goodwill to see if I could find a handheld cheese grater that was basically new but maybe $5 or less. I found the perfect cheese grater. Nothing wrong with it. Nothing funky. $4. Perfect. Brought it up to get in line. The line was a couple dozen parties deep. There were half a dozen registers open and clerks were humming along like retail circa 1985. I was gobsmacked. Anyhow I don’t do cattle calls. So I abandoned the cheese grater and made peace with paying $10 or more at Bed Bath and Beyond. I’ll never forget this. Walking into Bed Bath and Beyond there was NO ONE in the store. I mean nobody. Didn’t see any customers. Didn’t see an employee. Registers unmanned. Almost spooky. Now here’s what you’ve got to know about Silverdale. It’s where the entire Olympic Peninsula must travel (3 hours round trip) if we wish to visit: Trader Joe’s, Target, Best Buy, Bank of America or go to a 15 screen multiplex. Then it’s another 45 minute into Tacoma, beyond Silverdale. So seeing a once-mighty retailer with no one in it was…unsettling. Then I remembered: Biden. Yeah. Then I double-remembered: gas jumping from $2.19 a gallon to $5 a gallon in a matter of weeks. I never did get the cheese grater. Still don’t have one.

In June 2022, I interviewed for a UX Manager job. In the second interview, I asked how the company might do if the predicted recession happens. I got a very fake answer. That and one other red flag during the interviews, and I declined after the final round. The rest is in this video.