Bed Bath & Beyond
Dead1971–2023
| Industry | Retail |
| Headquarters | Union, NJ |
| Founded | 1971 |
| Died | 2023 |
| Peak employees | 65,000 |
| Peak revenue | $12.4B (2018) |
| Cause of death | Mismanagement |
Bed Bath & Beyond was the store you went to with a fistful of those blue 20% off coupons that never seemed to expire. The chain pioneered the 'big box specialty' format for home goods, stacking merchandise floor to ceiling in a deliberate attempt to overwhelm customers with selection. It worked. At its peak, the company operated over 1,500 stores and generated $12.4 billion in revenue.
CEO Mark Tritton, hired from Target in 2019, killed the golden goose. He replaced popular national brands with cheap private-label alternatives that nobody wanted, gutted the coupon program, and remodeled stores with a sterile aesthetic that removed the deliberate chaos that was the brand's entire identity. Same-store sales cratered.
The meme stock mania of 2021 briefly inflated the stock price, but the fundamentals were terminal. Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy in April 2023 and liquidated all remaining stores. Overstock.com bought the brand name and briefly renamed itself to Bed Bath & Beyond before reverting back. The name now exists as a redirect on a website. Even as a zombie, it couldn't stick.
Timeline
Warren Eisenberg and Leonard Feinstein open first store in Springfield, NJ
Goes public; rapid expansion begins
Operates 1,500+ stores; dominant in home goods
Mark Tritton becomes CEO; begins controversial transformation
Replaces national brands with private-label products; customers revolt
Becomes meme stock; price spikes but fundamentals worsen
Files Chapter 11 in April; liquidates all stores
Overstock.com buys brand name; briefly renames itself