Bed Bath & Beyond’s Executive Chairman Marcus Lemonis announced Wednesday that the company will not open or operate retail stores in California, citing the state’s “overregulated, expensive, and risky” business environment.
“California has created one of the most overregulated, expensive, and risky environments for businesses in America,” Lemonis said in a statement. “It’s a system that makes it harder to employ people, harder to keep doors open, and harder to deliver value to customers.”
“The result? Higher taxes, higher fees, higher wages that many businesses simply cannot sustain, and endless regulations that strangle growth. Even when the state announces a budget surplus, it’s built on the backs of ordinary citizens who are paying too much and businesses who are squeezed until they break.”
Online-First Strategy for California Customers
Though it is exiting brick-and-mortar retail in the state, Lemonis stressed that the company will continue to serve California customers. Bed Bath & Beyond will expand its online delivery model, offering 24- to 48-hour shipping — and in many cases, same-day service — through BedBathandBeyond.com.
This approach, he said, avoids “the inflated costs created by an unsustainable model” while still giving Californians access to the brand’s products.
Pushback Against Government Oversight
In an interview with FOX Business’s The Big Money Show, Lemonis said California’s government makes it “impossible to deliver a good product and make a profit.”
“We don’t want the government telling us how to run our business,” Lemonis told host Brian Brenberg. “For my shareholders and my customers, I don’t think we can deliver a good product and make a profit [in California], which is the idea behind business.”
He pushed back against critics who accused him of trying to underpay workers, insisting that the company already pays competitive wages and intends to pay more — but opposes what he called government overreach.
Newsom Response
“After their bankruptcy and closure of every store, like most Americans, we thought Bed, Bath & Beyond no longer existed,” Newsom press office said on X.
“We wish them well in their efforts to become relevant again as they try to open a 2nd store”
Rebuilding After Bankruptcy Collapse
The move comes as Bed Bath & Beyond continues to fight its way back to relevance after its 2023 collapse. The retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that year after mounting debt, poor inventory management, slow adoption of e-commerce, and overreliance on coupon sales led to financial ruin, according to Reuters.
In June 2023, Overstock.com purchased the company’s intellectual property for $21.5 million and relaunched its website under the Bed Bath & Beyond banner. Later that year, Overstock rebranded its corporate identity as Beyond, Inc.
Earlier this month, the brand relaunched its first new brick-and-mortar shop — Bed Bath & Beyond Home in Nashville — and plans to open 300 stores nationwide over the next two years under a licensing deal with Kirkland’s Inc.
Back to the NYSE With “BBBY”
As part of its revival, Lemonis also announced that the parent company is officially changing its corporate name back to Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. Its common stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BBBY on August 29, 2025.
The goal, he said, is to lean on “the most valuable pieces of intellectual property that investors and consumers know today” while also rebuilding
the rainbow elephant in the room is that woke California (not New York or Illinois for example) is being blamed as major reason for their bankruptcy, and quietly saying many of the other 49 states might have ability to have residents receiving Bed Bath & Beyond paychecks