Beyond Inc. Pulls Back from the Golden State
Bed Bath & Beyond’s new parent company has made it official: California is off the table.
Beyond Inc. — the entity operating under the Bed Bath & Beyond name after Overstock acquired the brand’s assets in the wake of its 2023 bankruptcy — confirmed it will not reopen physical stores in California. Customers in the nation’s largest state will only be able to shop the retailer online.
Company Cites Taxes, Costs, and Regulation
Executive Chairman Marcus Lemonis pointed directly to California’s business climate as the reason for the retreat. He described the state as “overregulated, expensive, and risky,” adding that high taxes and labor costs made it difficult to compete, keep prices fair, and offer stable jobs.
Expansion Plans Elsewhere
While shutting the door on California, Beyond Inc. is pursuing a retail reboot in other parts of the country. The first redesigned Bed Bath & Beyond Home store has opened in Nashville, Tennessee, with plans to convert 75 former Kirkland’s locations nationwide by 2026.
The move marks a selective return to brick-and-mortar retail for a brand that had entirely liquidated its stores just two years earlier.
California Pushback
Governor Gavin Newsom’s office was quick to fire back. In a statement, his team dismissed the company’s explanation, suggesting the move was more about publicity than policy:
“After their bankruptcy and closure of every store… like most Americans, we thought Bed Bath & Beyond no longer existed… We wish them well in their efforts to become relevant again as they try to open a 2nd store.”
As The Hill reports:
“This decision isn’t about politics — it’s about reality,” Marcus Lemonis, the company’s executive chair, said in a Wednesday statement.
He said California’s business environment “makes it harder to employ people, harder to keep doors open, and harder to deliver value to customers.”
Lemonis noted the retailer will have stores in “almost every other state.”
Bed, Bath & Beyond closed all of its more than 300 stores across the country and declared bankruptcy in 2023.
From Bankruptcy to Rebrand
Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 and shuttered all of its physical locations by July of that year. Overstock.com purchased the intellectual property, rebranded itself as Beyond Inc., and relaunched the chain primarily as an e-commerce business.
Now, with the Nashville store and more openings ahead, the company is selectively rebuilding its physical presence — just not in Newsom’s backyard.
Earlier Reports Now Outdated
Mid-2025 speculation that Bed Bath & Beyond might return to California appears to have been premature. The company’s latest announcement makes clear that no stores will reopen in the state, locking California customers into the online-only model.
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