Bed Bath & Beyond is coming back to the Bay Area less than a year after its executive chairman publicly declared California “one of the most overregulated, expensive and risky environments for businesses in America.” The home goods retailer will reopen across 12 California locations beginning in May, six of them in the Bay Area, through a store-within-a-store arrangement with The Container Store.
Parent company Beyond acquired The Container Store in a $150 million deal earlier this month, and The Container Store announced Thursday that 98 of its locations nationwide will overhaul their selling floors to incorporate Bed Bath & Beyond products. Stores have been liquidating 30% of existing inventory to make room for the transition. Bay Area locations will include San Francisco (555 Ninth St.), Palo Alto (500 Stanford Shopping Center), San Jose (3080 Stevens Creek Blvd.), San Mateo (3020 Bridgepointe Parkway), Walnut Creek (1100 Locust St.), and Corte Madera (219 Corte Madera Town Center).
The reversal is a notable about-face for executive chairman Marcus Lemonis, who had issued a pointed statement last year saying the company would not open another brick-and-mortar store in California. That declaration drew a sharp response from Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office, which suggested on social media that most people assumed the brand no longer existed following its 2023 bankruptcy. Lemonis shot back with a pointed reminder that Newsom had apparently shopped the site himself. On Thursday, Newsom issued a new statement saying he was “thrilled” by the news and welcoming the retailer back to the state.
Bed Bath & Beyond originally collapsed in 2023, closing more than 300 stores before Overstock.com acquired the brand’s name and assets and rebranded as Beyond. The company announced a comeback last year with a new Nashville location before signaling it would avoid California entirely. The Container Store transition is expected to begin in May, with no specific opening dates confirmed for individual locations.
