Bed Bath & Beyond is returning to California less than a year after the company's president vowed it would not reopen in the Golden State.
The home goods retailer will reemerge by rebranding 98 The Container Store locations, including 12 stores in California, the company announced Thursday.
Five locations are in Southern California, including one in Los Angeles and another in El Segundo.
The stores will be called “The Container Store + Bed Bath & Beyond” and will offer both organizational products and home goods.
The transition will begin on Friday and will involve liquidating 30% of The Container Store's categories and products. Store formats will begin to change in May.
“This is a restart with a purpose,” Jen Pape, senior vice president of The Container Store, said in the statement. “We are actively remodeling our stores to make room for the future.”
Bed Bath & Beyond once had 80 locations in California malls and malls, but closed all stores after filing for bankruptcy in 2023.
The retailer's CEO, Marcus Lemonis, said in August that the state is overregulated, expensive and creates a risky business environment.
Lemonis joined a group of business executives in denouncing California's business environment. Many executives, small business owners and entrepreneurs complain about the state's high taxes and cost of living, which, along with strict environmental regulations, can hinder business operations.
Lemonis, a Fox Business Network regular, said the decision to forego doing business in California was not political, but rather a measure to protect employees and customers.
“It's a system that makes it harder to employ people, keep doors open, and deliver value to customers,” Lemonis wrote in a statement on X in August.
At the time, Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to Lemonis' claims about the state's business landscape.
“After their bankruptcy and the closing of all stores, like most Americans, we thought Bed, Bath & Beyond was no more,” Newsrom said on X. “We wish them the best in their efforts to become relevant again.”
The retailer's inability to ignore California shows how the state remains an economic leader, with a gross domestic product higher than that of every other state and all but three countries.
More companies have moved out of the state than came in over the past decade. However, that net loss is dwarfed by the more than 7,000 companies founded in California during that time, according to the Public Policy Institute.
Newsom welcomed the retailer to the state.
“With a thriving economy growing faster than all other developed nations, California always reaches out with an open hand, not a closed fist,” he posted on X.
Lemonis responded with a post suggesting he got some support from the state to offset the added costs of doing business.
“Thank you for the huge incentives,” he said in an X post, adding, “we're happy to add @BedBathBeyond to our lineup so we can generate the revenue needed to overcome higher than normal operating costs.”
Bed Bath & Beyond acquired The Container Store, which sells storage and organization products, in April for about $150 million in stock and convertible notes, part of the company's attempt to rebound after bankruptcy.
The Container Store emerged from bankruptcy in early 2025, after filing in 2024.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
