Bed Bath & Beyond Chief Executive Mark Tritton says shoppers are increasingly skipping the national brand names and looking to try private labels, which are often less expensive.
“In 2020 alone, we’ve seen a migration to owned brands across the industry, not just in home,” Tritton told CNBC’s Courtney Regan on Thursday morning. “Customers are open to new brands, exploring new brands, from trusted resources and retailers that they have a great relationship with. … We believe Bed Bath and Beyond is well poised to be one of those.”
The big-box retailer announced Wednesday it will launch six of its own brands in the next six months, aiming to get those items on shelves and on its website ahead of the busy back-to-school and back-to-college season. It’s planning to launch at least 10 private labels in the next two years, while it simultaneously embarks on remodeling about 450 Bed Bath & Beyond stores.
Later this month, Bed Bath & Beyond will debut Nestwell, which sells bed and bath goods. That will be followed by the launch of Haven, a bath brand, in April.
Tritton said the company also has a private brand called Simply Essential in the works, which will sell more than 1,000 essential household items at competitive prices.
As it embarks on its own brand rollout, Bed Bath & Beyond has said it expects private-label sales will grow to represent 30% of its business within three years, up from 10% today. The company said these efforts should also help boost its profitability.
“We’ve built … a game plan for our store associates to communicate our new brands, the benefits, and how they can build real joy in our customers homes,” Tritton said.
Bed Bath & Beyond shares were falling less than 1% on Thursday morning. Its stock is up more than 180% over the past year. Bed Bath & Beyond has a market cap of $3.5 billion.
Source: Business - cnbc.com
