Dive Brief:
- Adding to its complex retail operations, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. announced plans to launch a nationwide franchise system, per a Tuesday press release. The company expects to finalize franchise documentation within six months.
- Franchise locations could include home, kitchen living, storage and organization, and “Holiday Shoppe” formats of traditional Bed Bath & Beyond stores, with about 20% of the merchandise being localized. The company added that “franchisees will also share in the economics of BedBathandBeyond.com,” though it did not provide details or immediately respond to Retail Dive’s inquiry.
- Franchise owners would have access to tokenization through the tZero platform, a blockchain services company with a brokerage component that Bed Bath & Beyond has invested in. The company suggested such a move “complements, and in some cases may replace” financing from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Dive Insight:
Digital asset plays continue to be an increased focus for Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.’s Executive Chairman Marcus Lemonis, who previously described the company as a split personality business.
“My expectation ... is that we come up with a way to unlock the value and either see tZERO have an initial public offering, find themselves reversing into a SPAC, or find themselves potentially even utilizing the Beyond platform to unlock the value,” Lemonis said on a July earnings call. “[W]e believe the money is ripe and ready to pour into this platform.”
The executive has pivoted the retail business to be more asset light, punting much of the day-to-day online and store retail operations onto Kirkland’s (now The Brand House Collective) while the corporate company focuses on digital asset endeavors. That includes tZero and even GrainChain, a blockchain and agriculture company.
“Our goal is to grow Bed Bath and Beyond in the most capital efficient manner,” Lemonis said in a statement relating to the franchisee news. “This system enables local owners to deliver personal service and local flavor while leveraging our national infrastructure, marketing, and technology.”
The digital tokenization of assets is an increasingly prevalent conversation within blockchain business circles. For example, a Robinhood executive earlier this month expressed the belief that tokenization will become ingrained in the financial system, per reporting from CNBC. Robinhood in June debuted tokenized U.S. stocks to customers in the European Union.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. previously offered digital tokens connected to certain IP for its other banners, BuyBuy Baby and Overstock, on the tZero brokerage platform operated by tZero Securities.
