Retailers Seek to Capitalize on Bed Bath & Beyond's Bankruptcy

Shortly after Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy protection and informed customers it would stop accepting the store's iconic blue coupons as part of the wind down process, several competitors jumped in and began accepting them.

The Container Store, for example, said last week that it will accept "a competitor's blue coupon" at any of its 97 U.S. stores now through May 31. The coupon will be good for 20 percent off a single item, the company said.  "We're here for you. Welcome to the organization," The Container Store posted on Twitter.

Big Lots followed suit last week, announcing it would also accept Bed Bath & Beyond's expired coupons through May 7. Customers will receive 20 percent off their purchase of $50 or more at any of Big Lots' 1,425 stores across the U.S. Boscov's said that it too would accept Bed Bath & Beyond coupons. According to the company's website, customers can bring in mailed coupons and get $10 off in-store purchases of $50 or more. The offer runs through May 31. Also matching Bed Bath & Beyond's coupons is Kirkland's Home, which will honor 20 percent off on a single item at all its stores through May 31.

Total Retail's Take: Bed Bath & Beyond's ubiquitous and oversized coupons — known as Big Blue — which were so well known to consumers ironically may have played a role in the company's demise. At one point, the company sent out hundreds of millions of 20 percent-off mailers every year, which fostered an "overreliance on the coupon" among its customers, BB&B's chief merchandising officer said in 2020. In addition, Bed Bath & Beyond customers were known to hoard coupons because the retailer would accept them after expiration and would take multiple on a single transaction. The brand started scaling back the coupons that same year after an internal study found them to be "ineffective."

Whether driving Bed Bath & Beyond shoppers into competitive retail stores with coupons for a set period of time will create repeat customers for these retailers remains to be seen. While the retailers mentioned above will definitely get a quick hit, the real winners will be Amazon.com, Target, and Walmart. In fact, according to the results of a survey of 500 verified BB&B customers from research firm Numerator, 68 percent will most likely to shop for items they would have purchased from Bed Bath & Beyond on Amazon.com, followed by Target (58 percent), Walmart (48 percent), HomeGoods (34 percent), At Home (12 percent), Macy’s (10 percent), Wayfair (5 percent), Crate and Barrel (3 percent), Williams-Sonoma (3 percent), Overstock.com (2 percent), and Nordstrom (2 percent).