Dive Brief:
- BuyBuy Baby plans to open 11 stores Saturday, the company confirmed in an email to Retail Dive. The retailer has planned celebration events at all locations, which are entirely on the East Coast. The company said its online store is also set to reopen this fall.
- The stores are located in West Hartford, Connecticut; Newark, Delaware; Rockville Maryland; Bridgewater, Iselin, North Cherry Hill and Paramus, New Jersey; Amherst and Scarsdale New York; Braintree Massachusetts; and Springfield, Virginia.
- The retailer said the new stores will offer an “elevated” shopping experience, along with a registry that allows customers to add to it by scanning items in-store on their phones.
Dive Insight:
BuyBuy Baby’s return follows Overstock’s relaunch of the Bed Bath & Beyond brand as an online-only retailer. But unlike Bed Bath & Beyond, BuyBuy Baby is committing to re-establishing a footprint of physical stores.
Former vendor of BuyBuy Baby, Dream On Me, bought the brand, intellectual property and digital assets out of bankruptcy from former parent Bed Bath & Beyond for $15.5 million in July. BuyBuy Baby had 120 stores at the time of the Chapter 11 filing.
BuyBuy Baby describes itself as a “trusted fourth-trimester partner” for families that will support parents and their children at milestone moments. In recent news releases, BuyBuy Baby said it will offer a curated assortment of familiar baby and maternal wellness brands; in-store QR codes for easy access to product information; and handheld point-of-sale devices to facilitate a smooth and more personalized checkout experience.
“The future of BuyBuy Baby is bright, and our team is committed to ensuring that BuyBuy Baby remains the go-to destination for all parents, caregivers, and families seeking thoughtfully designed and quality baby and child-focused products, and exceptional customer service,” CEO Pete Daleiden said in an announcement.
In response to a question about possible further store expansions, Daleiden said, “the near term focus is to get the 11 stores and digital site up and running and position BuyBuy Baby for strong future growth and expansion.”
Modern Retail recently reported the company wants to grow to a 100-store footprint in the next three years.
Two former Bed Bath & Beyond employees founded BuyBuy Baby in 1996. In 2007, when the baby retailer had eight stores in four mid-Atlantic states, Bed Bath & Beyond bought the company for $67 million and $19 million in debt repayment.
