Bed Bath & Beyond Trademarks

In 1971, New Jersey residents Leonard Feinstein and Warren Eisenberg opened Bed ‘n Bath, with two tiny retail stores selling home goods stores in Springfield, NJ. With a decade of retail experience as managers at another small struggling discount chain, they anticipated the rapid market shift to specialty retail stores.

The founders’ vision was to build a specialty retailer selling high-quality linens and bath products. Starting with two small 2,000 sq ft stores in high-traffic strip malls, the partners built the successful international retail chain we know today as Bed Bath & Beyond (BB&B). It now includes a group of specialty retail subsidiaries and more than 160 pending or registered trademarks.

Bed Bath & Beyond Company History

Headquartered in Union, New Jersey, Bed Bath & Beyond quickly grew beyond its first modest stores. Consumers loved the products, and sales grew rapidly as the retailer expanded. By 1985, the chain had grown to 17 stores operating in the Metro New York and California.

New competitors also matched their success, including NJ-based big-box retailer Linens ‘n Things, now-defunct Seattle-headquartered Pacific Linen, and Luxury Linens.

One thing was certain, the age of retail specialty stores was well underway, and Bed Bath & Beyond was leading the way.

First Superstore Opened in 1985

Because of growing competition, BB&B opened its first superstore in 1985 and by 1991 had seven superstores operating profitably in New Jersey, California, Virginia, Florida, Illinois and Maryland.

In 1987, to reflect its growth, a broader scale of merchandise, and future ambitions, the company formally changed its name to Bed Bath & Beyond.

IPO, Legal Challenges and Activist Investors

In June 1992, Bed Bath & Beyond launched a successful IPO and was listed on NASDAQ. By 1999, BB&B reached $1 billion in annual sales, and the company grew impressively to 1,142 stores across the US and Canada by 2011.

Three activist investor firms challenged management with accusations of nepotism in the acquisition of buybuy BABY for $67 million in 2019. Two children of founder Feinstein owned the company. The investors also challenged the acquisition of Chef Central, owned by co-founder Eisenberg’s son.

As a result, the company restructured its board, tightened up operations and ultimately hired former Target CMO Mark Tritton as CEO. The new chief executive promptly dispatched nearly the entire C-suite in December 2019.

Bed Bath & Beyond Subsidiaries.

Bed Bath & Beyond subsidiaries include buybuy BABY, Christmas Tree Shops, Harmon Stores, Of a Kind, and One Kings Lane. It also operates Decorist, an online interior design platform providing personalized home design services.

In June 2002, the company made its first acquisition of Harmon Stores, a health, cosmetic and beauty care discount retailer. BB&B acquired Infant and toddler retailer buybuy BABY for $67 million in March 2007. The company made a $495 million purchase of Cost Plus in May 2012 and quickly followed by buying Linen Holdings shortly after in June 2012 for $105 million.

It acquired online Indie brand and design company Of a Kind for an undisclosed amount in August 2015.

In February 2021, BB&B sold its 240-plus store subsidiary Cost Plus World Market to Kingswood Capital Management for an undisclosed amount, suggesting it was sold at a substantial loss.

Bed Bath & Beyond Trademarks

Bed Bath & Beyond maintains a large portfolio of trademarks, many of which are household names that most Americans recognize. As a linens, bath and home goods superstore, you won’t be surprised by the wide range of products and product names, including Artisanal Kitchen Supply, Fan Quarters, Salt, Pawslife, Style Co-op, Taste & Co, Flave (snacks).

Newest Bed Bath & Beyond Trademarks

When a company applies for a new federal trademark registration, it often reflects concrete plans to develop and introduce new products or services. At other times, it’s simply a way to protect potential new ideas or defend against competitors acquiring an advantage in a related market area.

Among BB&B’s pending trademark applications or newest approved trademarks are Welcome Rewards (loyalty program, Mar. 2022) and a new logo and typeface design (Nov. 2021). A wide range of new product or product line word marks, service marks and trademarks include Ritual + Renew, H for Happy, TruRest, Sleep Theory, Bee & Willow, and Wild Sage.

Watch for new Bed Bath & Beyond trademark applications and successful trademark registrations in our extensive Gerben Trademark Library for many other famous American companies, brands. sports teams, athletes, musicians, celebrities, educational institutions, government agencies, and even politicians.

What’s Beyond?

CEO Tritton has presided over the continued growth of the home goods retailer despite challenging times for the entire retail industry, the impact of Covid-19 and inevitable challenges by online competitors.

Part of the company’s successful response is optimizing e-commerce operations and omnichannel sales. In 2021, the company also announced plans to close 200 stores to remain profitable and competitive in the next two years. It also cut off sales of products from Mike Lindell’s controversial company, My Pillow.

The company now operates an estimated 834 Bed Bath & Beyond stores in every US state, Canada and Puerto Rico. As well, subsidiaries 132 buybuy BABY stores; and 54 stores under the names Harmon, Harmon Face Values, or Face Values are looking for growth as retail bounces back post-Covid.

Digital operations and web applications include bedbathandbeyond.com, bedbathandbeyond.ca, harmondiscount.com, facevalues.com, buybuybaby.com, buybuybaby.ca, and decorist.com are also delivering solid results.

On the horizon, the company hopes to reach $7.9 billion in sales by the end of fiscal 2021 despite some supply chain challenges that cost the company an estimated $100 million in sales. Despite that, for Bed Bath & Beyond, the “beyond” looks positive.