April 25, 2023

Some News Outlets are Blaming Bed Bath and Beyond’s Bankruptcy on Coupons

Those popular 20% Off coupons pretty much defined every single visit I did to Bed Bath & Beyond or Harmons are sadly, what news outlets are calling, the brand’s downfall. Apparently, those coupons are what news outlets are saying contributed to the retailer’s fall into bankruptcy. As you may know, Bed, Bath, and Beyond have been in trouble for a while and they filed for Chapter 11 and are now closing all stores across the country. They’ll also stop honoring any coupons you may have stashed away (mine store used to even honor expired coupons!).

Sadly, all the Harmon’s stores that are local to me have shut down and even ones around my upstate Summer home have closed as well. So far, only one Bed, Bath, and Beyond that’s local to me shut down but I suspect others will close soon as well.

The 20% off coupon was a huge marketing tool for Bed, Bath, and Beyond but sadly, it’s one of the things that may have caused their downfall as no one was shopping the store unless they had one or more of those coupons clutched in their hand or stashed in their purse when they entered the doors of their Bed, Bath, and Beyond store. I know I’m guilty. It just seemed to me everything seemed so crazy high at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. You know, they sort of reminded me of that weird Kohl’s sales trick where something was $150 and they would mark it down to 50% off making you feel like you got this REALLY great detail but in reality, you were paying the retail price. Ya know what I mean? That’s how purchasing at Bed, Bath, and Beyond felt to me. They’d have a coffee machine for $100 and everywhere else had the same coffee machine, a newer model, for $80.

Apparently, those little coupons cut into the brand’s profit margins and hurt the image brand’s image as it conditioned their customers to not shop at the store unless there was a coupon available. But we can be honest and say that’s been the case for the past eight to ten years with many brands and across many department stores. Getting makeup on sale ten-plus years ago was not possible. For example, Sephora’s Friends and Family Sale was a closed event that was supposed to be for FRIENDS and FAMILY. We did get around that as the universal code tended to be leaked online and across beauty communities. But if you weren’t visiting those channels chances are you had NO idea getting 20% off at Sephora was a thing. Sephora has since gone public with this event and renamed it to “Savings Event”. Even Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale was NEVER an actual sale. It was just a time to get early access to Fall clothing, makeup, and more. But nowadays you can indeed snag things on sale during that event.

Brands have really gone hard with sales the last several years and a new discount pops up every week or twice a week. Look at Macy’s Friends and Family which I believe happened March 23rd last time around and here we are again with 30% off on everything (and 15% off beauty). Brands like Chantecaille, Chanel, Dior, or Tom Ford having a sale was unheard of. Lots has changed to say the least.

Interestingly enough, I do say the tides changing a little bit. I noticed certain brands aren’t having as many sales as they did (or new releases) as much as they did a few years ago. They are slowing re-conditioning us to buy at the retail price and not to expect a sale at every corner. However, this technique might not work very well for them as we’re already very spoiled and willing to be patient and wait until something goes on sale or there is a discount available.

Sadly, that seemed to Bed, Bath, and Beyond’s downfall and who knows what other brands will end up in the same predicament. Apparently, Bed Bath & Beyond was shelling out early a billion coupons by mail a year.

I personally think Amazon hasn’t helped any of this either because the fact of the matter is Amazon is just cheaper period. Be it batteries, a new surge protector, or a coffee machine you’re just going to get it cheaper on Amazon. The other day my dad called me and said he went to Best Buy for a surge protector and it was $35 and he excitedly told me how he got it on Amazon for $9.99 plus it arrived the next day.

So, yeah, the video killed the radio star, right?

13 Comments

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About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Lucia Gonzales

    Bed Bath & Beyond should have stayed out of politics a few years ago. Their business was not the same when they stopped carrying Mike Lindell MY PILLOW because he was a Pro-Trumper.

  • Kimkats

    I really don’t think coupons were the problem. I think the problem was they shifted away from carrying name brands that you could use coupons on to more of their “store” brand stuff, which was general crap. Plus they became like a drugstore too – started carrying all sorts of other things they never used too, and at a price that nearly anyone except CVS could beat. They lost track of what made them successful and I think that’s what did them in.

    • Paula

      I completely agree about them carrying more of their own brand items. I always bought my sheets there because they had different brands and price points and I could find something within my budget that had some quality.

  • Eraser

    There’s a term for it but I can’t remember. Here’s an illustration. Notice that high end department stores don’t play the coupon game like Macy’s and Kohl’s. When it was reported that Von Maur was moving into the Pittsburgh area where I live, quite far east of its territory, a representative was quoted as saying that they don’t offer coupons, which represent illusory bargains, but rather have true sales seasonally. For example, clothing generally has a 50% markup, so if you buy it for half price, that’s what the store paid the wholesaler for it.

    Getting back to BB&B, they really did shoot themselves in the foot in the same way that the regional department stores of the past did,which is one of the big reasons why they became easy prey for Federated/Macy’s. Consumers became way too used to waiting for the coupons and the weekend sales that weren’t really sales at all. We Americans love our bargains, even if we save just a nickel. Years ago, these big retailers decided that volume always resulted in profit so the more people they could herd into a store, the better. Of course that’s not how it works but it’s too late for them to change course. On top of that, there was nothing really special or different about their merchandise and the shopping experience really wasn’t any different than say, Walmart with all the stuff stacked to the rafters.

    I’m no business expert and I haven’t followed the stories closely, but I would also guess that it was the typical top heavy corporate structure with mismanagement on many levels. All in all, a recipe for disaster.

    This was happening all over retail long before online shopping even existed so I really don’t think that the internet merchants had a lot to do with it in the long run. They’re not immune to this either. Amazon sells less and less name brand quality merchandise – if you search for something specific, the results are mainly no name garbage from Chinese sweatshops. My prediction is that big retailers, online as well as brick and mortar, will continue to implode, but I don’t know how the shopping scene will play out because younger generations are hooked when it comes to online shopping.

    I’m eagerly awaiting Von Maur and I hope it does well here. It will be a throwback to my distant youth when family run retailers were the norm and not the exception.

  • F

    Their prices were always higher than other stores so the 20% off was a gimmick to trick us into shopping with them for a “discount” when you’re really just paying normal. I find this the case with CVS and Kohls too. Super high prices with coupons galore. I actually stopped shopping at BBB there because I could ever find good quality products that I used to.

  • CL

    In my area I believe they chose poor locations. It didn’t help that one of their locations was just north of a mall that died. I would have shopped there far more often if they had been in a convenient area for me. The only stores close to me are Ross, Ulta, Marshall’s, Target, and HomeGoods. Not thrilled about that poor selection of stores (though I like Ulta). Target alienated me by practically insisting that you have their credit card and that you belong to their loyalty club. HomeGoods is now too expensive for what it carries (cheap-looking foreign furniture abounds there).

  • MelodyJ

    I think more than one factor hurt BB&B and it had a domino effect on the business. I didn’t know that through all of this they sold Christmas Tree Shops and World Market. So, these two stores will be fine. We never had Harmon’s but did have a big BB&B that sold their products. It’s a real shame as the Harmon’s section sold items that are hard to find in most big box, drug, beauty supply or specialty store.

    I went to the closest still open store, and someone asked me about coupons, and I told them the news said they will take them until Wednesday. When the store that was a bit nearer closed, I stop getting any coupons and sales sheets and was surprised they still sent them out.

    I will miss them as they did have some nice things. Also, I think of CVS with all the coupons they offer, and I noticed that products there are generally more expensive than at other places. But the coupon stacking allows for a good savings.

  • Kimmwc03

    I think it’s odd they are blaming the coupons when the coupons likely kept them in business as long as they were. Without the coupons I don’t think most of us would have shopped there when so many places were always more affordable.

  • Dee

    I think the number of coupons you could use may have contributed to the problem. One 20% off coupon doesn’t seem outrageous but they let you use as many coupons as you had, even if they had expired. I also read something about BBB doing a stock buy back and that being one of the problems? I don’t know enough about how all of that works.

    It’s too bad as I really did like BBB for a long time. The last few years they changed their inventory and it wasn’t as appealing. And the one closest to me removed all the cosmetics from their shelves and that was a pull for me!

  • Jennifer

    I’d say the bankruptcy had more to do with their 1 billion in payouts to their corporate people in 2021.

  • Randi

    I only used a coupon at Bed, Bath and Beyond too. The thing is, there were ALWAYS coupons. I would hand them out to other people. I think Amazon was their downfall, not the coupons.

  • MelodyJ

    UPDATE: The Container Store and Big Lots are excepting BB&B coupons for a short time. TCS until Wednesday, May 31 and BL until Sunday, May 7. BL requires a $50 purchase.