BuyBuy Baby’s brand name may live on but the retailer’s physical stores are officially closing.
Judge Vincent Papalia in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on Tuesday approved Dream on Me’s purchase of BuyBuy Baby’s trademark and digital assets for $15.5 million. New Jersey-based Dream on Me was one of BuyBuy Baby’s former vendors and made a stalking horse bid late last month.
According to court documents, the purchase gives Dream on Me all of BuyBuy Baby’s business intellectual property, including digital properties, the mobile platform, business data, and advertising and marketing assets. Mark Srour-Serure, who is identified in court documents as the president of Dream on Me, and the buyer and guarantor of the deal, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from Retail Dive.
Both Dream on Me and BuyBuy Baby are New Jersey-based companies. Dream on Me is a former vendor for BuyBuy Baby, which sells apparel, furniture and bedding. BuyBuy Baby was part of Bed Bath & Beyond, which filed for Chapter 11 in April. Bed Bath & Beyond was seeking a buyer for its BuyBuy Baby stores and had put them up for auction. But an auction scheduled for last week was canceled after no bids came in to operate the stores as a going concern, court documents show.
Now-bankrupt Bed Bath & Beyond split up its business assets and attempted to sell parts of its business separately in an effort to get the most value for stakeholders. But the process has seen numerous delays and the legal process to wind down Bed Bath & Beyond’s business operations continues. Ahead of its Chapter 11 filing, Bed Bath & Beyond closed its Canadian stores. It also closed Harmon, a U.S.-based 50-store chain that sold beauty products. BuyBuy Baby had 120 stores at the time its parent company filed for Chapter 11.
CNBC reported Tuesday that Go Global Retail, which owns children’s apparel company Janie and Jack, wanted to buy BuyBuy Baby. But Go Global was unable to reach a deal on valuation, CNBC said. Instead, Bed Bath & Beyond’s lead creditor, Sixth Street Partners, decided to sell BuyBuy Baby’s IP, auction its leases and continue with liquidation sales.
Bed Bath & Beyond bought BuyBuy Baby in 2007 for $67 million and $19 million in debt repayment. At that time, BuyBuy Baby had eight stores in four mid-Atlantic states. The company was founded in 1996 by two former Bed Bath & Beyond employees.
Dream on Me began in 1988 in a small retail store in New Jersey. The retailer’s product offering online includes cribs, mattresses, strollers, high chairs, and other furniture and accessories. Its products are also sold at other retailers like Target, Walmart and Kohl’s.
