After filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023, Bed Bath & Beyond ceased operations after its assets were auctioned off. The well-known BBB name was purchased by Overstock.com, and the first store under a new business model opened in Nashville on August 8.
Beyond a new business partnership with Kirkland’s, the new launch is making news because chairman Marcus Lemonis has stated publicly the future plans for 300 new stores will not include opening brick-and-mortar locations in California.
“When you look at the complexity, both on the real estate side, on the regulatory side, both on the product and the employee side, it’s just too cost prohibitive to do it,” Lemonis, referring to opening and operating in California, told Fox News.
The chairman’s candid complaint about California got the attention of Lauren Zelt. She is executive director of Protecting American Consumers Together, or PACT, a legal-focused consumer advocacy group. One main reason California is being avoided, she tells AFN, is the state is infamous for “slip and fall” lawsuits that make operating a business cost prohibitive.
“California is long overdue for lawsuit abuse reform,” she advises. “As long as the current system perpetuates itself, we will see more and more companies choose not to do business in that state.”
A related Forbes story about the return of Bed Bath & Beyond said Lemonis’ business-focused complaint was met with snark by Gov. Gavin Newsom. His press office quipped on X he wished the company well “in their efforts to become relevant again as they try to open a 2nd store.”
Lemonis, however, did not simply diss The Golden State in his comments to Fox. He acknowledged that California represents the “fourth-largest economy in the world” but also warned that economy will “dissipate over time” because of the anti-business environment.
According to the Forbes story, California previously led the country with 89 stores before the 2023 bankruptcy.
According to Zelt, lawsuit-crazed California is costing families there about $8,000 a year on average.
Forbes also reminded readers numerous other major corporations have fled California and named them: Tesla, SpaceX, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, Charles Schwab, CBRE Group, McKesson, Chevron, Palantir Technologies, AECOM, Fico, Realtor.com and John Paul Mitchell Systems.
