Bed Bath & Beyond Brings Buy Buy Baby Back Into the Fold

Bed Bath & Beyond’s parent company is staging a blockchain-centric family reunion of sorts.

Beyond — which also owns Overstock.com — announced Wednesday (Feb. 5) that it would spend $5 million to acquire Buy Buy Baby, a retailer that had been part of Bed Bath & Beyond’s stable prior to that company’s collapse nearly two years ago.

“Bed Bath & Beyond and Buy Buy Baby have historically been synonymous with supporting families, their homes, and all of life’s milestones,” Marcus Lemonis, executive chairman of Beyond, said in a news release.

“Our goal is to go beyond the traditional omnichannel mindset, focusing on the four corners of the property, and the four walls of the home. It is our objective to help homeowners enhance, protect, and unlock the value of their most important assets and information related to their homes and lives.”

Along with Kirkland’s, Beyond’s “omni-channel partner,” the company believes Buy Buy Baby has a strong future both online and in brick-and-mortar.

“Kirkland’s will have full flexibility, from integrating Buy Buy Baby into Bed Bath & Beyond stores, to opening standalone locations under each legacy banner,” Lemonis said.

In addition, Beyond said it is exploring the tokenization of part of Buy Buy Baby’s intellectual property, creating a digital dividend for investors.

The company also sees a chance to employ its partner tZERO’s blockchain technology to develop “the first ledger that records all significant life events,” Lemonis said, using things like birth and medical records.

“This initiative, which we’re calling the ‘LifeChain,’ will integrate the consumer’s financial and digital assets into a single, secure digital wallet, supported by Salesforce and its Agentforce technology,” Lemonis said.

Beyond announced its partnership with Kirkland’s in October, investing $25 million into the home decor speciality retailer.

As part of that collaboration, Bed Bath & Beyond brick-and-mortar stores made a smaller-format comeback, with Kirland’s operating new “neighborhood” Bed Bath & Beyond locations that will be up to 15,000 square feet in size and located throughout the U.S.

Bed Bath and Beyond declared bankruptcy in April 2023 after months of warning of financial difficulties and amid a struggle to find funding.

Months later, Dream on Me, a former Buy Buy Baby vendor, purchased the brand’s intellectual property and 11 store leases, but later closed those properties, saying it would operate Buy Buy Baby as a digital-only brand.