Who is moving into those vacant Bed, Bath & Beyond stores?
Who will be moving into closed Bed, Bath & Beyond stores nationwide and in the Chicago area?
According to published reports and court filings reviewed by CBS 2, Burlington, Michaels, Barnes & Noble, Macy's, HomeGoods, Planet Fitness, and other chains have plans to take over all that empty space nationwide from the defunct home goods retailer.
According to November Security and Exchange Commission filings, Burlington Coat Factory was a significant player in acquiring leases from Bed, Bath & Beyond.
According to federal bankruptcy court filings, Burlington successfully bid for 44 Bed Bath & Beyond leases at an auction in June.
In the first three quarters of 2023, the company said it had acquired 64 store leases, according to a recent SEC report.
In the June auction, 109 leases were sold to several companies, including Burlington, Barnes & Noble, Michaels, and Havertys.
Macy's bought one lease in Florida and plans to open a Bloomingdales store in Winter Garden.
In north suburban Deerfield, Burlington won the rights to take over the Bed, Bath & Beyond lease at their Waukegan Road location. It was the only Chicago area lease sold in the June auction.
Barnes & Noble is in the early planning stages for a new bookstore at the old Bed, Bath & Beyond location at the Town Square Shopping Center on Indianapolis Blvd. in Schererville, Ind.
According to a company spokesman, the 20,000-square-foot location will include a cafe, and the book retailer hopes to open in September 2024.
Bed Bath & Beyond first closed six stores in the Chicago area in September of 2022. Five more local stores were shuttered in early 2023.
The remaining 12 greater Chicago area stores were eventually shut down after the company declared bankruptcy in April.
The vacant Bed, Bath and Beyond stores are very attractive to retailers looking to expand in a market with low inventory.
"We're in a place where news such as the Bed, Bath, and Beyond liquidation is actually a positive for the market, as it is opening up space in places where there are very low levels of availability," said analyst Brandon Isner of CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate services and investment firm.
Overstock.com paid $21.5 million in a separate auction for the rights to Bed, Bath & Beyond's digital assets and intellectual property.
Note: The video with the story is from a previous report.