A United Parcel Service worker loads orders onto a truck in the shipping area at the Overstock.com distribution center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Ken James | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Overstock.com is going all in on failed retailer Bed Bath & Beyond.
The e-commerce home goods retailer will no longer go by its eponymous name online and will instead move under the Bed Bath & Beyond domain name in the coming weeks after acquiring the bankrupt rival’s intellectual property, Overstock announced Wednesday.
It will relaunch the Bed Bath & Beyond website in Canada within the next week, followed by a rollout of a website, mobile app and loyalty program in the U.S. “weeks later.”
Overstock announced the moves as it completed its $21.5 million acquisition of Bed Bath’s intellectual property and digital assets. The company hopes the brand name will help to lift sagging sales.
“Bed Bath & Beyond is an iconic consumer brand, well-known in the home retail marketplace,” Overstock CEO Jonathan Johnson said in a statement. “The combination of our winning asset-light business model and the high awareness and loyalty of the Bed Bath & Beyond brand will improve the customer experience and position the Company for accelerated market share growth.”
Despite declining sales, Overstock’s stock has surged nearly 32% this year. Overstock shares jumped nearly 5% in extended trading Wednesday and also popped when it was first revealed that it successfully won the auction for Bed Bath’s assets.
In its first-quarter results in April, Overstock reported $381 million in revenue, a 29% drop from the prior-year period. The e-commerce retailer posted a net loss of $10 million. Still, the retailer’s results came in ahead of some estimates, according to Street Account.
Overstock will not acquire any brick-and-mortar Bed Bath stores as part of the deal. The failed home goods retailer has been hosting a series of auctions for its myriad assets, including its store leases and assets from its Buy Buy Baby banner.
A number of bidders have expressed interest in Buy Buy Baby’s stores but it remains unclear if any will be bought and kept open.
