
When feathering my nest, I was on the hunt for a few items for my bedroom. I didn't want to get lost online, so I headed out to shop in person. Aren't "they" trying to get us to do just that?
Pre-COVID, the best place to get things like bedskirts and rugs and tablecloths was Bed, Bath & Beyond. It was always a little overpriced, but I knew I'd be able to find what I wanted, all in one spot. With my schedule well into stupid-mode, the convenience was worth it. (I also find it faster to sort color and fiber options in person). So that's where I started.
Bed, Bath & Beyond is in the news because of the CFO's suicide. I'm sad that he took his life, but anyone who'd walked into that store recently could have told you that it was doomed. Do people not check things out in person? No, of course not. -sigh-
It was empty. I couldn't find ANY bedskirts. One tablecloth option, in a few colors. The types of rugs I was looking for? Forget it. This is a big store, guys - huge. This store used to have all.the.things... but not now. Now it was half empty and 1/4 full of "as seen on TV". -shakes head-
Should I blame myself? Well. No. I never was in the habit of recreational linen shopping, so the lack of my linen dollars didn't hurt Bed, Bath & Beyond. Also, I didn't hide in my house during COVID. (Sorry, not sorry - I even went to work every day!) After I hit BB&B, I tried Macy's homegoods, Target, and three discount stores - finally I found some of what I wanted at Marshalls, and ended up having to buy my bedskirt online. (But where are the tablecloths??)
It took me a lot longer to find what I needed now than it used to. I'd have paid the extra $10 to buy at BB&B. But it wasn't there for me.
And all of that has been said - but what hasn't been said is what I'm going to say now. And that's "why didn't they stay in their lane"? Five years ago, BB&B was starting to get junky. The "as seen on TV" section had taken over a huge section of the store. They'd started out by having a great selection of home items that ranged from very nice to basic. It was always a smidge expensive, but you had so many choices - and you knew that whatever that odd thing was, you would save time because Bed, Bath & Beyond would have it. Slowly, you found that your good choices of mid-range items started to disappear. They had name brands for a high price - but they didn't have their own niche. You know what happens when you leave your lane? You enter competition land. And in competition land, you lose.
Probably the BB&B in my area will close. Yet another Halloween City will open (this is a great mystery, how do they do that much business?) and then we'll have a huge retail space left vacant. They'll blame it on COVID and Amazon - but they should blame it on not holding fast to what they did best.