Bed Bath & Beyond's Franchise Fiasco | Fast Five Shorts
This segment from the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five podcast, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso, tackles Bed Bath & Beyond's announcement of a nationwide franchise system.
Chris doesn't hold back, calling this "the single dumbest idea" in the show's eight-year history. Anne tries to find potential benefits for independent retailers but struggles to justify the investment. With the company just emerging from bankruptcy and no clear competitive advantage, is this franchise opportunity a trap for unsuspecting entrepreneurs? Buyer beware!
For the full episode head here!
#bedbathandbeyond #retailfranchise #homegoods #franchiseopportunity #retailnews #homefurnishings #retailstrategy #businesswarning #retailfailure
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Transcript
Bed Bath and Beyond plans to launch a nationwide franchise system, according to Chain Storage.
Speaker A:The company, which also owns Overstock, Bye Bye Baby and a blockchain asset portfolio, said it plans to launch a national franchise system that will allow Bed, Bath and Beyond to operate a smaller footprint of corporate stores nationwide along with a complementary franchise network.
Speaker A:Franchise documentation is expected to be finalized within the next six months and franchise locations will feature turnkey formats of a traditional Bed, Bath and Beyond, including home kitchen, living storage and organization, and a holiday shop, all designed with a neighborhood feel.
Speaker A:Chris, would you advise people to rush out and invest in opening a Bed, Bath and Beyond franchise store?
Speaker B:Candidly and no.
Speaker B:I think, I think this is the single.
Speaker B:I'm going to, I'm going to go, I'm going to go on a massive rant here.
Speaker B:I think this is the single dumbest idea I've ever heard of in the history of this show, of eight years of doing this show, I think this is the single dumbest idea I've ever heard of.
Speaker B:Buyer beware, folks.
Speaker B:That's all I've got to say.
Speaker B:I wouldn't touch a Bed Bath and Beyond franchise and with a 10 foot pole for all the reasons I feel like for, if you've been with us for a long time, for all the reasons we've talked about ad nauseum, you know, I mean, Bed Bath and Beyond just went bankrupt, for crying out loud.
Speaker B:I can't even believe this is an actual story when I get down to things.
Speaker B:So, like, what evidence is there that the leadership at Bed Bath and Beyond knows how to rinse and repeat a going concern, Home furnishings, retail operation.
Speaker B:There's zero evidence of that, people.
Speaker B:The space is just too competitive.
Speaker B:And the reason Bed Bath and Beyond went bankrupt, for those that may not remember, but I'm sure you do because it just happened, is because it doesn't have a reason for being in the market.
Speaker B:It's too competitive.
Speaker B:So no.
Speaker B:And I am selling this harder than a thousand thread count sheets.
Speaker B:That's, that's, that's my take here.
Speaker A:I was trying to find some purpose in this.
Speaker A:I'm, I was trying to dig and it took me a lot.
Speaker A:I was really, really stretching, trying to think like, is there like operational things?
Speaker A:Like maybe if I'm an independent, you know, home furnishings bedding retailer in a small town, like this gives me access to point of sale system.
Speaker A:It gives me access to maybe a marketplace play down the road, I don't know.
Speaker A:However, then I'm like, there's Shopify, like there's A lot of other ways that as a retailer, as an independent retailer right now, I'm set up to succeed.
Speaker A:And then I think about again, like, how much search with a large language model is going to impact where people are shopping.
Speaker A:And do you still need a Bed Bath and Beyond platform to like, help you show up better in search results?
Speaker A:I don't think that is the case.
Speaker A:I think like there's other platforms that are much more accessible to independent retailers to help them be successful, especially from a technology standpoint, than buying a franchise on top of all of that.
Speaker A:So I, I, I don't understand Bed, Bath and Beyond.
Speaker A:I'm really curious to see what kind of adoption they get and who those retailers are.
Speaker A:So that's what I'm going to be watching.
Speaker A:Like who, who makes this move and decides to do this and why?
Speaker A:Like what, what benefit are they getting from it?
Speaker B:Yeah, you're just throwing your money away, in my opinion.
Speaker B:So I'm curious.
Speaker B:And before we move on, like in the history of bad ideas of the show for you, is this like top 10% of all time bad ideas on the show, you know, in the middle of the bell curve, like, am I over exaggerating it or are you kind of on the same page as me?
Speaker A:I mean, people are going to do it.
Speaker A:So that's what, that's again why I said, I mean, they wouldn't be doing this if they didn't have a few fish on the line.
Speaker A:Like, I think, I think that that's, that's why I said like that to me doesn't make sense as an independent business owner who has franchise something, like, I would not be buying this, I would not be investing in it because there's not enough return.
Speaker A:But some people are going to.
Speaker A:And that's what I want to focus on.
Speaker A:Why and what benefit do you see this is going to bring you?
Speaker B:Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker B:I'm super skeptical that anyone's going to buy into this.
Speaker B:At least I hope not.
Speaker B:But anyway.
Speaker B:But you know the guy, the guy running Bed Bath and Beyond, he's a, he's a slick dealer for sure.
