‘Revamped’ Bed Bath & Beyond emerges from bankruptcy with online site
Bankrupt retailer Bed Bath & Beyond relaunched on Tuesday with a “revamped” website after the company’s intellectual property assets were bought for $21.5 million by Overstock.com in June.
The big-box chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April — shuttering its 360 stores — after failing to secure enough funds to stay afloat
Overstock CEO Jonathan Johnson touted the new site — which uses the same bedbathandbeyond.com URL — alongside an updated app and loyalty program.
“We didn’t want any confusion about what’s going to be our lovely site versus the garage-sale store that’s going on at [Bed Bath & Beyond] stores right now,” Johnson said in a statement. “I don’t want that taint on us.”
According to Johnson, the renewed e-commerce site has 600,000 new products, many of them brand names in the kitchen, bed and bath categories — that cost less than they were before the relaunch.
“Welcome to a bigger, better beyond,” the site’s refreshed landing page says.
Johnson has reportedly been eyeing the acquisition of Bed Bath & Beyond for the past three years.
“We loved the brand, hated the business model,” Johnson told CBS News, noting that the new iteration of the once-storied retailer will be less reliant on its beloved coupons.
First-time users to the new site were greeted with a “spin to win” button that can knock and additional “15% off” and “$30 off $300.”
Johnson hopes the marriage of the brands will help Overstock reinvent its image and boost sales.
Overstock, which once thrived as an asset-light business, saw sagging sales that Johnson attributed to being “weighed down by a brand that doesn’t say who we are.”
“We’re a home furnishing and furniture company, and it sounds like we’re a liquidator, and that’s been a headwind for consumers and…for [our] suppliers,” he added, according to CBS.
Combining the Bed Bath & Beyond name and Overstock’s business model fixes both those issues, he said.
Since joining forces on June 22, Overstock’s share price has risen roughly 45% — including nearly 10% in the past month — to $35.19.
Though Bed Bath & Beyond’s stock has plummeted — falling over 5% since last month — it was on the rise on Tuesday following the US website revamp.
The updated website debuted in Canada at the end of June, and Johnson noted that the company has already seen a higher conversion rate in the country, which Johnson expects to happen in America.
The increased profits come after Bed Bath & Beyond struggled for years with dwindling sales and a failed merchandising strategy.