Buy Buy Baby stores to close, Go Global bid to save chain falls apart

Buy Buy Baby’s last-ditch effort to save the chain and keep the business afloat ultimately failed, with the company’s stores on the verge of disappearing, according to CNBC.

Brand management company Go Global Retail, which owns children’s apparel company Janie and Jack, is eager to buy the beloved product Bed bath and others Chief Executive Jeff Streader told CNBC the company wanted to build the chain and keep it open, but ultimately failed to agree on a valuation.

Bed Bath & Beyond’s lead creditor, Sixth Street Partners, determined that by selling Buy Buy Baby’s intellectual property, auctioning off its lease and advancing a liquidation sale, the company could recover more than Go Global was willing to offer.

Dream on Me Industries, a little-known New Jersey retailer and one of Buy Buy Baby’s former suppliers, won the property for $15.5 million after Bed Bath & Beyond failed to receive higher bids. Logo and digital assets of the chain store.

Streader said Go Global believed on Monday that there was a path to closure, but ultimately failed to agree with Sixth Street.

“Our offer was fair. Sixth Street’s offer was not unreasonable, but there was disagreement on valuation,” he said. “We wish the IP bid winners every success in their journey.”

Go Global’s bid will be higher than Dream on Me’s, but not by much because “the value has fallen significantly over the past six weeks,” according to a person familiar with the matter. Not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

When the auction process first began, Go Global was prepared to offer a “significantly higher” price, the source said. In May, the company was seeking an additional $50 million in funding to support its bid, CNBC previously reported.

However, close to three months of clearance sales have been held across Buy Buy Baby’s 120 stores, with little left to bid beyond intellectual property, vacant stores, leases and remaining inventory, sources said.

Over the past few weeks, Bed Bath & Beyond has repeatedly postponed and split up the Buy Buy Baby auction process in receivership in order to be able to secure higher bids and find a company willing to keep its stores open.

However, each time the auction was postponed, it was only by about a week or so, which “definitely deterred potential bidders or investors,” the source said.

“Most people can’t move that fast,” the source added.

During a hearing Tuesday in federal bankruptcy court in Newark, New Jersey, Judge Vincent Papalia approved the sale of Buy Buy Baby’s intellectual property to Dream on Me because one of the bidders staff members attended the hearing virtually via Zoom. Smoke on screen.

Lawyers for Bed Bath & Beyond said it was “unfortunate” that they were unable to find a buyer, as Papalia and other attorneys at the hearing were disappointed that the chain couldn’t be saved.

“I’m also disappointed by the lack of going concern bids,” Papalia said.

“Unfortunately, I think it’s disappointing that neither part has progressed. I have higher hopes, but sometimes, those hopes don’t come true.”