Bed Bath & Beyond Buys Brand House Collective, Bath & Body Works Reset

Bed Bath & Beyond should acquire The Brand Collective in 2026, shuttering 40 stores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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In a move that signals a further reshaping of the home goods retail landscape, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. has agreed to acquire The Brand House Collective in a deal valued at roughly $26.8 million.

The all-stock transaction means shareholders of The Brand House Collective will receive 0.1993 shares of Bed Bath & Beyond common stock for each share they own and the deal will formalize a relationship that has been evolving over the past year.

Roughly 40% of The Brand House Collective’s shares were already held by Bed Bath & Beyond, easing the path to consolidation.

The strategic narrative is to reposition Bed Bath & Beyond as an everything for the home retailer, combining the legacy value of its brand with the operational agility and store discipline of The Brand House Collective, the company said. As part of the deal, the company expects to cut more than $20 million in duplicated costs, including shuttering 40 stores next year.

The chain, once a U.S. retail juggernaut in housewares and bedding, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2023, ultimately liquidating all remaining stores. In the months following, the brand name and intellectual property were acquired by online retailer Overstock.com via bankruptcy auction and it quickly rebranded under Bed Bath & Beyond. The revived BBBY and has been quietly rebuilding its empire.

Bed Bath & Beyond Reshapes

The partnership with The Brand House Collective began in late 2024, when Garnland’s Home stores began being repurposed and rebranded as Bed Bath & Beyond Home outlets. That paved the way for the full acquisition after the companies saw early conversions deliver double-digit sales growth.

As the acquisition closes, anticipated in the first quarter of 2026 pending shareholder approval and lender consent, the newly formed retail group will be overseen by The Brand House Collective’s current CEO, Amy Sullivan, who will head up the new Beyond Retail Group.

Her remit will span merchandising, store operations, digital commerce and customer experience across Bed Bath & Beyond and its sibling brands including buybuy BABY, brand-house home décor and the banner once rolled out under Kirkland’s Home.

Bath & Body Works New Focus

Meanwhile Bath & Body Works Inc., the personal-care and home-fragrance specialist, has announced a transformation plan under its new CEO, Daniel Heaf — a former executive at sports apparel giant Nike — dubbed the ‘Consumer First Formula’. The strategy is seeking to realign the brand with its core strengths in body care, home fragrances, soaps and sanitizers.

Bath & Body Works is pledging to refocus on its core ranges. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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The urgency stems from a third quarter that fell short of expectations. Net sales slid 1% year-on-year to $1.59 billion, while net income dropped sharply, with a decline of more than 27%. Forecasts now show Q4 revenues likely to dip by high single digits, well below earlier projections of modest growth.

Bath & Body Works had expanded aggressively into new categories such as hair care and men’s grooming, yet the core body-care and fragrance lines were neglected. Heaf described the business he inherited as “slow and inefficient” and hampered by “unnecessary complexity”.

To steer the company back on course, the new focus will emphasize a simplified product assortment, a sharper focus on trend innovation, ingredient-led formulations and elevated brand storytelling.

At the same time, the company plans to leverage new channels, notably launching on Amazon, using interactive kiosks, pop-ups and physical experiences to reach younger consumers. However, it has a steep mountain to climb, with its stock value down by over 50% in the year-to-date, despite a small rally since the announcement.

The stories of Bed Bath & Beyond and Bath & Body Works share a broader theme, as legacy brand names scramble to reinvent themselves amid shifting consumer behavior, tightening wallets and a persistently challenging retail environment.

For Bed Bath & Beyond, the challenge is building back credibility and scale, while avoiding the baggage of its pre-2023 collapse, while for Bath & Body Works it is about rediscovering the essence that made it successful.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/markfaithfull/2025/12/01/bed-bath–beyond-buys-brand-house-collective-bath–body-works-reset/