Soon, Overstock.com will turn out to be Bed Bath & Beyond — at the least in digital type.
Overstock, which final week paid $21.5 million to amass the bankrupt retailer’s mental property, stated on Wednesday that it could begin working its web site below the Bed Bath & Beyond title.
The change will roll out in Canada in early July. Starting in August, a few month after the ultimate Bed Bath & Beyond shops within the United States shut, clients within the nation who go to overstock.com can be redirected to bedbathandbeyond.com.
Overstock’s cell app and its rewards program can even be rebranded. Company executives plan to ultimately convey again Bed Bath & Beyond’s well-liked marriage ceremony registry.
As Overstock folds the bankrupt retailers’ property into its personal operations, it’s contemplating renaming its business completely, stated Jonathan Johnson, the corporate’s chief government. It would possibly decide on Bed Bath & Beyond, he added, however different names are being thought-about, too.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked over the years when we’re going to change the name of Overstock,” stated Mr. Johnson, who has been on the helm since 2019.
For years, Overstock.com has been looking for a option to replace its picture as a liquidator, which was the way it began in 1999. The firm has since moved away from promoting solely furnishings at basement discount costs, however finally, Mr. Johnson stated, its title was holding it again within the eyes of customers.
It’s betting Bed Bath & Beyond’s title can assist change that.
“We will probably have both logos for a little bit, but the goal is to transition as quickly as possible to Bed Bath & Beyond,” Mr. Johnson stated.
When the home-goods retailer filed for Chapter 11 chapter in April, Mr. Johnson noticed a chance for his personal firm. In 2018, when Patrick Byrne, then Overstock’s chief government, wished to promote the retail business to deal with cryptocurrency expertise, Bed Bath & Beyond was a possible purchaser, Mr. Johnson stated. That deal by no means occurred.
The tables turned when the pandemic hit and Overstock’s gross sales surged. Bankers approached the corporate, suggesting that it should buy Bed Bath & Beyond.
On the opposite hand, Bed Bath & Beyond was financially battered by the pandemic. Like many retailers, it needed to quickly shut its shops, and its provide chain buckled as the corporate sought to maintain up with the demand in on-line purchasing. Sales fell drastically as firm executives made a number of merchandising and advertising and marketing missteps.
“We’ve been watching and watching, and last year when Bed Bath & Beyond fell on some troubles we started thinking, ‘Gee, if it goes bankrupt, we might have the opportunity to purchase what we like without purchasing what gave us pause before,’” Mr. Johnson stated. (Overstock didn’t buy Bed Bath & Beyond’s retailer areas or stock.)
In the week after its bid for Bed Bath & Beyond’s property grew to become public, Overstock added greater than 100,000 bedding and bathtub gadgets to its web site as distributors raced to do business with the corporate. This was after months of Overstock’s courting them and making concessions like agreeing to carry stock in warehouses, a uncommon transfer for the net retailer. Now, Mr. Johnson stated, he doesn’t suppose his firm should try this to win distributors over.
The acquisition additionally offers Overstock a trove of buyer knowledge. It has info on what Bed Bath & Beyond customers purchased on-line and the way incessantly they visited the web site — a useful instrument as Overstock contends with its personal falling gross sales. On Wednesday, the corporate stated it anticipated its second-quarter income to say no within the low 20 % vary from the yr earlier than.
Overstock’s gross sales peaked in 2021, when extra folks purchased furnishings in the course of the peak of the pandemic. Its lively clients have additionally been declining, and it stated in April that it had 4.8 million customers. Bed Bath & Beyond’s lively buyer record for its web shoppers is twice as massive.
Overstock expects that its buyer rely will enhance within the coming months, whereas the typical quantity that customers spend might shrink as a result of the small home equipment and residential items that Bed Bath & Beyond was identified for are cheaper than the couches and patio tables Overstock usually sells. The on-line retailer can even spend extra on advertising and marketing to make customers conscious of its branding modifications.
This deal comes as U.S. customers are spending much less on furnishings and extra on consuming out and touring. Sales at furnishings and residential furnishing shops within the first 5 months of the yr fell almost 3 % from a yr earlier, in accordance with Commerce Department knowledge, which isn’t adjusted for inflation.
“Opportunities like this come up once in a while, and they come up sometimes when times are tough,” Mr. Johnson stated. “Will the category still be tough in the short to medium term? I think so, but I think getting all these new customers and rebranding helps us cut through some of that headwind.”
During the combination course of, Overstock plans to rent employees with advertising and marketing, merchandising and expertise experience. The firm has been making an attempt to recruit former Bed Bath & Beyond staff.
As for the destiny of Bed Bath & Beyond’s famed 20 % coupon?
“We’ll always be a couponer; we’ll always do the site sales,” Mr. Johnson stated. “Whether we run at 20 percent as frequently as Bed Bath did — probably not. But it’ll be there for the beginning.”
Source: www.nytimes.com