Headlines were made on April 23, 2023 when Bed Bath & Beyond announced its Chapter 11 filing and plans to liquidate all inventory and shutter all stores. Despite the company’s struggles in recent years, questions remain as to what will happen with the space coming onto the market once everything has been liquidated.
In an article by Placer.ai’s Shira Petrack, it was noted that Bed Bath & Beyond’s demise won’t necessarily lead to a sudden glut of retail space due to their average store size being closer in size than most retailers at 32,000 square feet. Various tenant classes such as grocery stores and fitness chains have expressed interest in taking over these soon-to-be vacated spaces but there is no one-size-fits-all solution for this real estate portfolio due its wide variety of markets across 360 venues.
Placer.ai conducted research into consumer bases within select trade areas where Bed Bath & Beyond stores are located which revealed median household incomes ranging from $53k-$108k; median age between 35 – 38 years old; share of households with children 16%-31%; varying demand for exercise/natural products/online shoe shopping; trade area sizes 37 sq miles – 183 sq miles (smaller area serving larger population).
The answer as to what retailers will find this space useful boils down two words: It depends! Fitness centers may prefer sites with smaller more densely populated trade areas while home improvement retailers could benefit from larger less densely populated regions since they don’t rely on frequent repeat visitors who may have stronger demands for DIY materials here .
