Bed Bath & Beyond remodeled its New York flagship store

On Thursday morning, Bed Bath & Beyond will officially open the doors of its newly renovated flagship location in New York City.

For nearly three decades, the approximately 92,000 square foot 6th Avenue location in the Chelsea neighborhood has remained virtually untouched. The devices have become dated. The goods were piled higher and higher up to the ceiling. The signage was dark and the lower level looked like a dungeon, noted managing director Mark Tritton during a media tour of the store this week.

The renovated space is nothing like what it was before. Come Thursday morning, shoppers will be greeted by open windows next to a cafe area, a one-of-a-kind SodaStream bar, wider aisles, less merchandise, new brands – including a range of Bed Bath & Beyond clean – and bright, modern brand.

It is one of the first of 450 Bed Bath & Beyond properties to undergo a facelift over the next three years. A key part of Tritton’s turnaround strategy is to invest around $ 250 million in updates to gain new customers and retain existing customers.

The Chelsea location now has a vast health and wellness area, which the retailer says results in frequent visits to its stores and helps create larger, more profitable baskets.

“It’s really emblematic of the renovations we’re going to do over the next three years,” Tritton said. “But there won’t be anything like this Chelsea store.”

The Chelsea location also provides space for Bed Bath & Beyond’s private labels to shine. This is at the heart of Tritton’s recovery plan. He takes a page from the playbook of Target, his big-box rival, where he was previously Chief Merchant and has helped develop a number of successful internal brands from scratch.

Bed Bath & Beyond plans to roll out at least eight internal brands in fiscal 2021, and more than 10 over the next three years. Some have been launched in recent months, including a line of storage containers called Squared Away; a swimwear brand known as Haven; and a range of household items under the nickname Bee & Willow.

According to Joe Hartsig, director of merchandising at Bed Bath & Beyond, the company picked up merchandise in certain categories, like travel, which did not sell as well in the past at this Chelsea location, in order to make room. for more bedding and bath items.

Reducing inventory also gave Bed Bath & Beyond a chance to declutter and organize inventory by brand, price and sometimes color, he said.

“We know it is difficult to shop in our stores,” Hartsig said while touring the store with Tritton. “So we really tried to make the aisles easier to navigate… the wider aisles are very clean. The layout is very tight.”

Customers at this store will also be able to use a new scan and shop feature recently launched in Bed Bath & Beyond’s mobile app, where shoppers can bypass the checkout line and pay in-store from their phones. .

Here is a first glimpse of the interior.