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Friday, September 9, 2022

[EXCLUSIVE] Bed Bath & Beyond To Shutter Two Suburban Stores

Bed Bath & Beyond announced plans August 31 to close stores and layoff employees as it works to stabilize its business and improve its balance sheet.  The Union, New Jersey-based retailer did not at the time indicate which stores would close, but ToNeTo Atlanta has confirmed at least two stores the company plans to close in metro Atlanta.  

Liquidation sales have commenced at Bed Bath & Beyond stores in Snellville and Suwanee with both stores offering discounts of 10-30% off in-stock merchandise.  

In Snellville, Bed Bath & Beyond occupies a roughly 35,000 square foot space along Scenic Highway in Presidential Markets shopping center.  

In Suwanee, Bed Bath & Beyond's store is smaller, measuring only about 20,000 square feet.  

Both centers are anchored by Target stores but are also home to several other junior anchors and small shop space.  A former Office Depot in Presidential Markets reopened this past October as Market by Macy's, a small format concept from the legacy department store.  

Earlier this year Bed Bath & Beyond shuttered stores in Dunwoody and East Cobb with the former having reopened in August as a new Academy Sports + Outdoors and the latter slated to be reconfigured as part of the collective redevelopment of The Avenue East Cobb.  

Target-alum Mark Tritton was hired to be Bed Bath & Beyond's President & CEO in 2019, but after launching a number of new initiatives meant to revitalize the business, was ousted by the board this past June.  While "outsiders" are often brought in to "shake things up" at struggling businesses, Tritton's struggles are reminiscent of fellow Target and later Apple alum Ron Johnson who was brought to JCPenney in late 2011 to re-energize their business.  Johnson implemented several significant changes - chief among them discontinuing basically all coupons - and after limited success, was also ousted after less than three years.  

The two Atlanta area Bed Bath & Beyond closures are among roughly 60 stores the retailer plans to close this quarter.  Overall, the company plans to close about 150 stores in the coming months as it works to streamline operations and increase profits.  Same-store sales plummeted 26% for the three-month period ended August 27 — an even bigger drop than the declines of recent quarters.

Following the new closures, Bed Bath & Beyond will continue to operate a dozen locations in greater metro Atlanta including those in Buckhead (Buckhead Station), Cumberland (Akers Mill Square), Atlanta (Edgewood Retail District), Kennesaw (Cobb Place), Alpharetta (North Point Marketcenter), and Duluth (Gwinnett Marketfair), among others.

Are you surprised to see Bed Bath & Beyond closing in Snellville and Suwanee?  Have you shopped at Bed Bath & Beyond more or less in recent years?  What would you like to see open in the soon to close stores?

Please share your thoughts below.  

10 comments:

  1. I am surprised Snellville is closing. That is a nice location. I still shop at Bed Bath & Beyond. I used to go to the Dunwoody one which was always busy and Buckhead but now due to car breakins avoid Buckhead. The main one I go to now is Gwinnett Duluth. I just like seeing products in person and not always online.

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  2. Not surprised to see Suwannee close. It's much smaller than Alpharetta and Cumming and based trade area, it was an odd choice for location. That shopping center does not do great business for whatever reason, except Target . It's kind of hard to see what's in that shopping center from the road. I will say the last time I was in the Cumming location it obviously had more empty space and less merchandise than I had previously been used to seeing. I've always liked BBB but their coupon strategy is a bit old and most of what they sell can be purchased cheaper elsewhere nowadays.

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  3. Based on the corruption (CFO) at the top of this organization I'm surprised that they don't close totally.

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  4. the kennesaw location is always a mess and will close soon probably.

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  5. Snellville isn't kind to big box chain stores.

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  6. They cheapened up their merchandise over the last 2-3 yrs and did a poor job of rearranging the merchandise. They used to sell medium quality merchandise at reasonable prices but dropped down to the cheaper stuff you can but at the Walmarts and discount stores. The Dunwoody store was always busy and had quality merchandise. They lost their successful focus and most of their customers

    Susan & Robby

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  7. bed bath and beyond merchandising has always been a thinly veiled sham.

    They always positioned themselves as equal to not Macy’s but Nordstrom, Lord and Taylor, Sak’s, and the like amongst an era of HomeGoods popularity and success and the continued refinement of Walmart and target and amazon merchandise and shopping experiences.

    Even Macy’s has devised a strategy to compete successfully with HomeGoods, why wouldn’t bed bath and beyond?

    Such a lost opportunity. Many customers would go to bbb to “show room shop” and then settle their purchase elsewhere or online. Their textiles based merchandise for bed and bath have always been outrageously priced especially versus the same quality at Macys, homeGoods or even target, which is often on sale.

    In my experience the employees at BBB have always been focused on checking off their “to do lists” from their managers instead of the “to do lists” from their customers. There in lies a major issue with their Corporate culture, no wonder the news reports fault their corporate leaders with their demise from the top down.

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    Replies
    1. They also overstock their stores with things customers don’t want, and understock on the most popular items. And they rely on that 20% coupon to bring in traffic, which is disastrous to business in the end.

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  8. Can you confirm if the Arboretum store in Charlotte is also set for closure?

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  9. @Anon RE: Arboretum in Charlotte,

    Yes, this store is confirmed to be closing.

    Thanks for your readership!

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