1-07-2023 4:17am

Curtain Closes for Local Bed, Bath & Beyond Store

Lesley Misko Editor

As is too often the case in the neighboring Pottstown area, another store is shutting down… and this may not be the only place it is leaving. This time it is Bed, Bath & Beyond, the chain retailer known for its over-size cardboard blue mailers with 20% off discount coupons and a wide variety of household merchandise .

Going back as far as August 2022, there was news that the fate of the company’s 23 Pennsylvania stores was unknown. The local closure was announced following Christmas.

Although no reason was provided, national news reports suggest the chain’s overall sales were down significantly during the make-or-break holiday shopping season. The entire company could declare bankruptcy within weeks if efforts to obtain a financial lifeline fail.

Located in West Pottsgrove at the Upland Square shopping center, the store opened in July 2009. When the location closes its doors for the final time, the closest Bed, Bath, and Beyond stores will be located around 20 miles away in the Berkshire Mall area of Reading and in King of Prussia.

In business since 1971, the chain became a go-to for housewares ranging from bedding and small appliances to dishes and kitchen utensils. Countless couples made their engagements official by creating a wedding registry at the store. More recently, however, the chain failed to capitalize on the spike in home-related sales created by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Visitors to the Pottstown store have faced empty shelves and a quick review of available inventory on the website in recent days showed many basic items to be out of stock. Analysts attributed the shortages to suppliers’ concerns that the chain would be unable to pay outstanding bills. Bed, Bath & Beyond’s relationship with major suppliers reportedly was further frayed by the company’s push, under a previous CEO, to shift from major name-brand products from popular companies like Kitchen Aid, Keurig, and Dyson to their own house-brands, which never caught on with consumers.

Bed, Bath & Beyond is the latest store at the Upland Square center to close. Best Buy and A.C. Moore Arts and Crafts, which also were initial tenants, have also packed up and left town. In June of this past year, the shopping center was sold to another real estate company that is headquartered in Singapore. Free-standing businesses such as Starbucks, Chilli’s, the movie theater, were not included in the sale.