Bed Bath & Beyond is about to unleash what it describes as the largest change in its product assortment in a generation. Over the next six months the retailer will launch six new owned brands, with two addition introductions coming by the end of the year. The new portfolio will include Bed Bath & Beyond’s first in-house opening price point brand, which it will extend across multiple product categories.
The new brands are heading to segments its core customers consider to be destination shopping at BBB: bedding, bath, kitchen/dining, storage/organization and home décor. Collectively those areas account for 60 percent of the nameplate’s revenue.
The first brand, Nestwell, will debut later this month in bedding and bath. Next month, BBB will relaunch its Haven bath brand, positioning it as a spa-inspired program built around organic cotton.
The retailer’s inaugural opening price point brand, Simply Essential, will also land next month with more than 1,000 products. It will include household essentials as well as functional but well-designed products for multiple categories and rooms. Ultimately, BBB is looking drive owned brand penetration from the current 10 percent to a targeted 30 percent over the next three years.
In addition to the eight brands coming this year, there will be two more released next year. The company plans to launch a new label every month in the first half of fiscal 2021, which began in February. Most of the new brands are expected to hit stores ahead of the Back to College and holiday seasons.
Company president and CEO Mark Tritton said the new brands “will infuse purposeful innovation and affordable quality to drive gross margin and category dominance.”
He added: “Combined with our continued investment in the key national brands consumers know and love, this will create a platform for sustainable long-term growth and true authority in the home market, while helping customers realize the potential to create a happier home in each and every room.”
The plans are part of a comprehensive growth strategy that includes resetting the merchandising assortment by categories and rooms, remodeling approximately 450 stores, enhancing the digital-first, omnichannel shopping experience and introducing a 360-degree approach to marketing and customer engagement.
Bed Bath & Beyond had already signaled that it would slash overlapping skus and over-assorted categories. As part of the new brand announcement, the company re-iterated that it will cull thousands of under-performing labels, brands and products across the core destination categories.
