Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
American homewares retail giant Bed Bath & Beyond is to buy the smaller Cost Plus Inc operation as it seeks to widen its offer.
Cost Plus, which runs stores under the names World Market and Cost Plus World Market, sells furniture, home décor, kitchenware, bedroom and bathroom products and food and drink. The $495m deal was agreed following a successful trial of Cost Plus food departments within some Bed Bath & Beyond stores over the last year and a half.
The pilot helped to build customer traffic and “sharpen the edge against online retailers”, said Cost Plus.
The acquisition will add around 260 Cost Plus outlets to Bed Bath & Beyond’s total of almost 1,200 stores, which trade as Christmas Tree Shops, Harmon and Buybuy Baby as well as Bed Bath & Beyond.
Commenting on the deal between the two companies, Cost Plus CEO Barry Feld said: “Our successful merchandising and product collaborations over the last two years have demonstrated that our organisations work well together and that we can make key contributions to the continued success of the combined company.”
