About two years after Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy and shuttered all of its physical stores, the housewares company began an attempt at a turnaround - with a twist.
Reborn as Beyond (BYON), it was reinventing itself as an e-commerce player that had major stakes in two blockchain firms: tZero, which provides digital solutions for issuers looking to tokenize their cap tables, and GrainChain, an ag-tech platform applying blockchain to agricultural supply chains.
It wasn’t surprising that the company would tie its comeback plans to two of the hottest sectors going right now – e-commerce and crypto – while also operating under a new name that left its failed brand in the past.
But now comes another twist.
The retailer announced this week that it was ditching Beyond as its corporate name and going back to the Bed Bath & Beyond brand.
The company will also be going back to its old ticker BBBY on the New York Stock Exchange effective August 29.
In a statement, CEO Marcus Lemonis indicated that the company was not abandoning its strategy “of unlocking value within our blockchain assets particularly tZERO and GrainChain” by reverting back to its old brick-and-mortar name.
“Our name change is highlighting one of the most valuable pieces of intellectual property that investors and consumers know today and does not change our intense focus on growing revenue, achieving profitability in the near term, and monetizing valuable blockchain assets,” Lemonis said.
The company also owns Overstock and buybuy Baby, and Lemonis said it is focused on turning the former brand “back to a billion-dollar nameplate.”
Beyond’s stock dropped 4.4% on Wednesday, but it has surged 80.5% YTD.
IRL shopping everywhere but California
And while Bed Bath & Beyond will still be looking to grow its e-commerce business, the company will also be pursuing a strategy to relaunch its box stores again, targeting “localized, capital-efficient stores offering curated assortments in small to midsize locations.”
However, these locations will not include California, the third-largest state in the U.S.
Bed Bath & Beyond actually went out of its way to release a statement from Lemonis on Wednesday announcing its decision to exclude California from its retail plans.
The chief executive insisted that the decision “isn’t about politics,” but rather “it’s about reality.”
Lemonis is alluding to the fact that because of its historically left-wing political leanings, California has long drawn the ire of conservatives, including President Trump.
“California has created one of the most overregulated, expensive, and risky environments for businesses in America,” he said in a statement. “It’s a system that makes it harder to employ people, harder to keep doors open, and harder to deliver value to customers.”
He added that the company is “taking a stand because it’s time for common sense.”
Lemonis noted in a post on X on Wednesday that Bed Bath & Beyond “will have stores in almost every other state” except California, which will still be served by the company’s e-commerce store.
While Lemonis’ statements are aligned with many of the complaints Republicans lodge against California, he has also been very critical of Trump in the past, which lends credence to his insistence that the decision isn’t politically motivated.
“Businesses deserve the chance to succeed. Employees deserve jobs that last. And customers deserve fair prices,” Lemonis said. “California’s system delivers the opposite.”
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