Marcus Lemonis, the executive chairman of Bed Bath & Beyond, has announced that his company will not “open or operate retail stores in California,” citing the state’s “overregulated, expensive, and risky” business environments as primary reasons.
Lemonis said in a statement Wednesday that California’s “unsustainable” business system “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.
According to Businesswire, “Beyond, Inc. (NYSE:BYON), based in Murray, Utah, is an ecommerce-focused retailer with an affinity model that owns or has ownership interests in various retail brands, offering a comprehensive array of products and services that enable its customers to enhance everyday life through quality, style, and value.”
The Company currently owns Bed Bath & Beyond, Overstock, buybuy BABY, and other related brands and websites as well as a blockchain asset portfolio. The Company regularly posts information and updates on its Newsroom and Investor Relations pages on its website, Beyond.com.
“California’s system makes it nearly impossible for businesses to succeed, and I won’t put our company, our employees, or our customers in that position,” Lemonis stated on X.
Although Lemonis was careful to note that his decision not to operate in the state was based on business, rather than political considerations, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s hyper social media team hit back at the company with a nasty dig.
“After their bankruptcy and closure of every store, like most Americans, we thought Bed, Bath & Beyond no longer existed,” Governor Newsom’s Press Office sneered on X. “We wish them well in their efforts to become relevant again as they try to open a 2nd store.”
Newsom, widely believed to be a likely contender for the Democrat presidential nomination in 2028, has hired a social media team that have taken to mocking President Trump and anything MAGA-related as a political strategy.
His team’s gibe toward a struggling company that is currently attempting a comeback, appeared offkey for a potential presidential candidate.
Bed Bath & Beyond and its affiliated entities did indeed file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April, 2023, due to declining sales. Soon after, the company was forced to permanently close all of its physical locations.
The store is now rebranding under the name Bed Bath & Beyond Home, with its first new outlet in Nashville, Tennessee opening on August 15, 2025. Bed Bath and Beyond products are also available in its online shop.
The company has partnered with Brand House Collective and plans to convert 75 existing Kirkland’s Home stores into Bed Bath & Beyond Home locations by 2026.
The chairman responded curtly to Newsom’s jab on X, saying: “Hope you enjoyed the items you purchased at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Thank you for your business.”