Buybuy Baby will close all of its stores as part of its parent company Bed Bath & Beyond’s ongoing bankruptcy liquidation.
On Tuesday, a judge approved the sale of Buybuy Baby’s intellectual property for $15.5 million to Dream on Me industries, a New Jersey-based designer and supplier of baby products. The deal did not include the chain’s 120 physical retail stores.
Last week, Bed Bath and Beyond’s debtors canceled an auction of the Buybuy Baby’s entire business, including its physical retail stores, after failing to secure a more attractive offer.
CNBC reported that Go Global, an investment company that owns children’s clothing retailer Janie and Jack, was in talks to save Buybuy Baby’s physical stores, but the deal fell through when the company could not reach an agreement on a purchase price with Bed Bath & Beyond’s lead creditor, Sixth Street Partners.
A source familiar with the talks told CNN that Go Global’s bid wasn’t viable.
Bed Bath & Beyond’s brand name, domain and loyalty program assets were purchased by Overstock.com for $21 million last month after filing for bankruptcy in April. The acquisition also did not include Bed Bath & Beyond’s brick-and-mortar stores, which have closed.
Overstock plans to relaunch its e-commerce site using the Bed Bath & Beyond branding. However, Buybuy Baby, which Bed Bath & Beyond had purchased for $67 million in 2007, was seen as one of the retailers more valuable assets, and many industry watchers expected a buyer to save its physical retail stores.
In a March 2022 letter, former Bed Bath & Beyond activist investor Ryan Cohen said he believed Buybuy Baby was “much more valuable than the Company’s entire market capitalization today.”
