Like many businesses, Bed, Bath & Beyond is fleeing California.
Unlike most, however, it's not slinking out quietly. It's letting the world know why it go the hell out of Dodge.
In a publicly issued statement, its executive chairman, Marcus Lemonis, wrote:
We will not open or operate retail stores in California.
This decision isn’t about politics — it’s about reality. California has created one of the most overregulated, expensive, and risky environments for businesses in America. It’s a system that makes it harder to employ people, harder to keep doors open, and harder to deliver value to customers.
The result? Higher taxes, higher fees, higher wages that many businesses simply cannot sustain, and endless regulations that strangle growth. Even when the state announces a budget surplus, it’s built on the backs of ordinary citizens who are paying too much and businesses who are squeezed until they break.
At Bed Bath & Beyond, our responsibility is to our customers and our shareholders. We will not participate in a system that undermines both. Instead, we are investing in a California strategy that works: 24–48-hour delivery, and in many cases, same-day service. Californians will continue to get the products they love through BedBathandBeyond.com — but without the inflated costs created by an unsustainable model.
We’re taking a stand because it’s time for common sense. Businesses deserve the chance to succeed. Employees deserve jobs that last. And customers deserve fair prices. California’s system delivers the opposite. That’s why Bed Bath & Beyond will serve California customers directly through BedBathandBeyond.com, on our terms, and with their best interests at heart.
— Marcus Lemonis
Executive Chairman, Bed Bath & Beyond
This ran on Morningstar from BusinessWire so all the investment gurus with cash to manage could see it, but it's all over social media, too -- so everyone could see it.
Official statement regarding @BedBathBeyond
— Marcus Lemonis (@marcuslemonis) August 20, 2025
We will not open retail stores in California.
This isn’t about politics — it’s about reality.
California’s system makes it nearly impossible for businesses to succeed, and I won’t put our company, our employees, or our… pic.twitter.com/G5dSaigB3y
It follows from the statement last month issued by In-N-Out Burger's CEO, Lynsi Snyder, who pretty much said the same thing more informally.
According to the New York Times:
Lynsi Snyder, the chief executive of In-N-Out Burger, has announced that she plans to move her family to Tennessee as the fast-food chain establishes a corporate office there, drawing a backlash in California, where her grandfather founded the company nearly 80 years ago.
“I’m actually moving out there,” Ms. Snyder, who was raised in Northern California, said on “Relatable,” a faith-based podcast that discusses culture, news and politics from a conservative Christian perspective. (In-N-Out prints Bible verses in small print on its packaging.)
“There are a lot of great things about California, but raising a family is not easy here,” Ms. Snyder, 43, said in the episode released on Friday. “Doing business is not easy here.”
Unlike Lynsi, Bed & Bath's top executive wasn't gentle at all. Lemonis understood that California's ruling legislators need to be hit over the head with hard realities for any chance of getting them to listen, which in fact is very low. Notice from the New York Times account that Lynsi was trolled by anonymous trolls on the internet for stating she wanted to leave, (which sounds pretty manufactured actually), but we know that companies pulling up stakes have been mocked and abused for leaving the state. Recall how legislative powerbroker Lorena Fletcher bellowed the 'f' word at Elon Musk for moving his Tesla headquarters to Texas out of frustration at California's policies. He replied "message received" and left it at that.
This CEO is different. He lays it right out -- the monster taxes, the monster regulations, the hostile climate for hiring. He said it was so bad he wasn't going to open any stores in California.
A Google AI search reports that 789 businesses have fled the state in the years 2011 - 2021, while 350 have fled in the years 2020 - 2025. The AI report attempts to claim that this amounts to only a small percentage of California's numerous companies, but that's pure spin, a reflection of what the press is claiming, given that such percentages conflate mighty companies like Chevron with tens of thousands of employees making six-figure incomes fleeing the state with Little Joey's garage startup set up last month with himself the only employee or Mamacita's Taco Stand, which has yet to get a license, let alone a work permit or legal residency for its owner. Oracle, Charles Schwab, Kaiser Aluminum, McKesson, Palantir -- they have all fled.
The California Globe has a list of huge businesses that fled from 2020 - 2023.
Yet California's rulers aren't the least ashamed of this flight. Gov. Gavin Newsom claims California is the "fourth-largest" economy in the world, and a "model" for the rest of the country. He continually denies that there is a problem.
Orange County Lawyers noted that studies show that California is losing high-earning businesses and taxpayers with this flight. This is what conditions look like for businesses on the ground:
“While Texas approved their new research center in 30 days, California’s process would take 18 months,” Kang told OrangeCountyLawyers.com.
With 420,434 restrictions listed in the California Code of Regulations (CCR), the Mercatus Center at George Mason University ranked California the most regulated among the 50 states followed by New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Texas.
The least regulated include Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Idaho.
“Other places, that are also considered a privilege to live in, make it a lot easier for businesses to be there,” Toplansky added. “So, do we want to be competitive or do we want to have our head in the clouds? This is a real world for legislators to have to grapple with. [California] is not the only game in town.”
And just as important, this is what legislative conditions look like in terms of getting any regulatory relief passed. This Substack piece by Chris Bray is an absolute must-read for explaining why businesses are fleeing California.
As they ignore, mock, and abuse businesses that are fleeing, the chief of Bed & Bath knew that the only avenue left was to state, Trump-like, the raw hard reality of why businesses such as his, and many others, are fleeing the horribly governed blue state.
He's done us a public service. And it's reasonable to think others fleeing will now get bolder.
How is Newsom going to explain himself to voters after a statement like that?
Image: X screen shot