Bed, Bath & Beyond's Small Connecticut Presence Could Get Smaller

CONNECTICUT — What's left of the Bed, Bath & Beyond chain in Connecticut could soon be sold off to an online retailer.

Westfield (NJ) Patch is reporting that Garden State-based Bed Bath & Beyond is fielding a more than $21 million dollar buyout offer, but there is a catch. The deal would only be for certain assets — the chain’s intellectual property, not its physical stores.

Stores in Connecticut remain in Simsbury at 532 Bushy Hill Road and in Brookfield at 14 Candlewood Lake Road. Once-bustling Bed, Bath & Beyond stores in locations like Manchester, Norwalk and Guilford have been caught in the closing frenzy announced in February. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy two months later.

According to the report, court papers show that Overstock.com filed the bid Tuesday, as business news outlets including CNBC and Barron’s reported. The $21.5 million bid includes the Bed Bath & Beyond IP, mobile platform, business data, and marketing material according to Barron’s.

Overstock is an online retailer that primarily sells furniture and home decorations.
In its filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 23, Bed, Bath & Beyond listing its estimated assets and liabilities at a value up to $10 billion. Discounted sales have been going on since late April at 360 Bed Bath and Beyond stores around the country.

Competing bids are due by Friday with an auction expected to take place June 21, reports said. The initial minimum bid on the assets of a bankrupt company is called a “stalking horse bid,” the term coming from an old hunting tactic.
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Michelle Rotuno-Johnson of the Patch staff contributed to this report.