Major home accessories store to open in city
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
Share
Updated: March 15, 2010 3:19 PM
When Linens ‘n Things folded in 2008, it helped set the table for competitor Bed Bath & Beyond to expand across Canada.
So it’s perhaps fitting that the New Jersey-based retailer is setting up shop in Linens ‘n Things’ former premises in Red Deer.
Catherine Gentile, public relations manager with Bed Bath & Beyond, confirmed on Tuesday that her company expects to open an outlet in the city by mid-summer. It will lease the 25,500-square-foot space at Southpointe Common that’s been vacant since Linens ‘n Things’ demise.
Founded in 1971 with a focus on bed linens and bath accessories, Bed Bath & Beyond now sells a broad range of home-related merchandise, including bedding, bath accessories, window treatments, kitchen linens, cookware, dinnerware, closet and storage items, and other products. Most outlets range from 23,000 to 50,000 square feet, although some exceed 80,000 square feet.
Brent MacKay, commercial manager with Qualico Developments West Ltd., the developer of Southpointe Common, said Bed Bath & Beyond is very similar to Linens ‘n Things and Home Outfitters.
“The average consumer would be hard-pressed to differentiate between the three stores.”
Since opening its first Canadian location in December 2007, Bed Bath & Beyond has expanded to 16 outlets here, including five in Alberta.
Asked about the motivation for choosing Red Deer as its first small-city market in Alberta, Gentile said there are a number of factors that influence such decisions. Key among these is a desire to reduce travel distance for customers.
MacKay said the existence of other big box stores in Southpointe Common likely appealed to Bed Bath & Beyond officials.
“When you have people like Winners, HomeSense and Best Buy and other large multinational tenants like that, it resonates with them and they have a level of comfort that if these guys are there obviously it’s a market we need to be looking at.”
He added that the Red Deer Linens ‘n Things, which closed 3 1/2 years after it opened, was performing “exceedingly well.”
“Unfortunately, it was just sort of the collective weight of the overall operation that dragged them down,” he said, referring to its American parent company’s bankruptcy.
Gentile said Bed Bath & Beyond’s policy is to not comment on its staffing requirements.
“Each store is staffed depending on individual needs,” she said. “There will be job opportunities.”
Subsidiaries of Bed Bath & Beyond include Christmas Tree Shops, Harmon, Harmon Face Values and Buy Buy Baby in the United States, and Home & More in Mexico. Additional information about the company and its products can be found online at www.bedbathandbeyond.ca.
hrichards@reddeeradvocate.com
