A Few Harmon Stores May Survive Bed Bath & Beyond’s Bankruptcy
Bankrupt retailer Bed Bath & Beyond is selling its Harmon health and beauty brand to a private investor who plans to reopen a small number of stores, starting with five locations in the New York Tri-state region.
Harmon Retail Holdings, a newly formed company based in Purchase, N.Y., has agreed to buy the Harmon brand asset out of bankruptcy for $200,000, according to an asset purchase agreement filed in its parent company’s bankruptcy case. The pending sale could close within days, according to David Abrams, Founder and CEO of masonre, a real-estate brokerage and advisory firm representing the buyer.
Bed Bath & Beyond said in January it would close all of its roughly 50 Harmon stores, as the home-goods retailer was struggling to stay out of Chapter 11. It filed for bankruptcy in April, putting assets up for sale including Harmon’s intellectual property, customer lists and intangible assets related to the Harmon and Face Values brands, according to a court filing.
The new owner wants to open the first five stores in the Tri-state area—at or near the original locations—as soon as possible, aiming to expand from there, Abrams said.
David Abrams, Founder and CEO of masonre
Lawyers representing Bed Bath & Beyond didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bed Bath & Beyond acquired Harmon in 2002, part of an expansion strategy and followed by the acquisition of discount home-goods retailer Christmas Tree Shops in 2003. Bed Bath &Beyond sold the CTS chain in 2020 to Marc and Pam Salkovitz, who placed it under bankruptcy in May. The CTS stores are now headed for liquidation after the company recently defaulted on its bankruptcy loan.
Bed Bath & Beyond tried to sell the Buybuy Baby chain as a going concern until recentlybut abandoned the effort earlier this month. It then sold Buybuy Baby’s intellectual property tobaby-goods retailer Dream On Me Industries for $15.5 million.
In a bankruptcy auction last week, Dream On Me also acquired 11 leases of Buybuy Baby stores,according to a court filing. Dream On Me didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bed Bath & Beyond’s namesake store locations are also shutting down. Its brand name was soldout of bankruptcy to Overstock.com.