Overstock.com will soon become Bed Bath & Beyond, at least in digital form.
Overstock, which paid $21.5 million last week to acquire the bankrupt retailer’s intellectual property, said Wednesday it will launch a website under the Bed, Bath and Beyond name.
This change is expected to roll out in Canada in early July. Beginning in August, approximately one month after the last Bed Bath & Beyond store in the United States closed, domestic customers visiting overstock.com will be redirected to bedbathandbeyond.com.
Overstock’s mobile app and its rewards program will also be rebranded. Company executives plan to eventually bring back Bed, Bath & Beyond’s popular marriage registry.
Overstock is considering a full name change to integrate the bankrupt retailer’s assets into its own business, according to Overstock CEO Jonathan Johnson. He added that “Bed Bath & Beyond” might be the final name, but other names are under consideration.
“I can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve been asked when we’re going to change the Overstock name,” said Johnson, who will take over from 2019.
For years Overstock.com has been trying to find a way to update its image as a liquidator. That’s how he started in 1999. Since then, the company has moved away from selling only furniture at bargain prices in the basement, but ultimately Johnson said the name kept it from being seen by consumers.
We are betting that the Bed Bath & Beyond name will help change this situation.
“We’ll be using both logos for a while, but our goal is to transition to Bed Bath & Beyond as soon as possible,” Johnson said.
When the home goods retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April, Mr. Johnson saw an opportunity for his company. In 2018, when then-Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne wanted to sell his retail business to focus on cryptocurrency technology, Johnson said Bed Bath & Beyond was a potential buyer. said Mr. That deal never happened.
The tide turned when the pandemic hit and Overstock’s sales surged. Bankers approached the company, suggesting that it buy Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Meanwhile, Bed Bath & Beyond has been hit financially by the pandemic. Like many retailers, the company had to temporarily close stores as it tried to keep up with online shopping demand, straining its supply chain. Sales fell sharply after company executives made several mistakes in product planning and marketing.
“We’ve been watching it for a long time, but when Bed, Bath & Beyond ran into some trouble last year, we started thinking, ‘Oh, if we go bankrupt, what will happen to us before?’ ‘You may have the opportunity to buy what you like instead of buying what you’ve been holding off,'” Johnson said. (Overstock did not buy Bed Bath & Beyond store locations or inventory.)
Overstock has added more than 100,000 bedding and bath products to its site a week after the bid for Bed Bath & Beyond’s property went public, as vendors competed for deals with the company. This comes after months of being courted by Overstock and making concessions, including agreeing to warehouse inventory, which is unusual for the online retailer. rice field. Now, Johnson said he doesn’t think his company needs to do that to persuade vendors.
The acquisition also gives Overstock a treasure trove of customer data. It contains information about what Bed Bath & Beyond shoppers have purchased online and how often they have visited his website, and when Overstock faces declining sales is a useful tool for The company said Wednesday it expects second-quarter sales to fall in the low-twenties from a year earlier.
Overstock’s sales peaked in 2021, when more people bought furniture in the midst of the pandemic. Active customers are also declining, and the number of users as of April was announced to be 4.8 million. Bed Bath & Beyond’s active customer list of online shoppers has doubled.
Overstock expects more customers in the coming months, as the small appliances and homewares known as Bed, Bath and Beyond are cheaper than the sofas and patio tables Overstock typically sells. , the average spend of shoppers may decrease. Online retailers will also invest more money in marketing to make consumers aware of branding changes.
The partnership comes at a time when American consumers are spending less on furniture and more on dining out and travel. Sales at furniture and home goods stores fell nearly 3% in the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to the company. data Not adjusted for inflation from the Department of Commerce.
“Opportunities like this come once in a while, and sometimes they come in tough times,” Johnson said. “Will the category still be tough in the short to medium term? I think so too, but with all these new customer acquisitions and rebranding, I think we can overcome some of the headwinds.”
During the integration process, Overstock will hire employees with marketing, merchandising and technology expertise. The company is looking to hire a former Bed, Bath & Beyond employee.
What is the fate of Bed Bath & Beyond’s famous 20% coupon?
“We will always remain couponers. We will always do site sales,” Johnson said. “If he’s running at 20 percent pace as often as we bedbath, probably not. But it will be there from the start.”
