No California Dreamin’ for Bed Bath & Beyond

While Bed, Bath & Beyond is planning a comeback in the form of a slate of brick-and-mortar stores, none of those will be in California. The word of that boycott comes from BB&B’s Executive Chairman Marcus Lemonis, who took the unusual step of putting out a news release detailing his reasons for leaving the nation’s most populous state (just under 40 million residents) out of its planned physical-location renaissance.

“This decision isn’t about politics — it’s about reality,” Lemonis said in the release. “California has created one of the most overregulated, expensive and risky environments for businesses in America. It’s a system that makes it harder to employ people, harder to keep doors open and harder to deliver value to customers.

“The result? Higher taxes, higher fees, higher wages that many businesses simply cannot sustain and endless regulations that strangle growth. Even when the state announces a budget surplus, it’s built on the backs of ordinary citizens who are paying too much and businesses who are squeezed until they break.”

It’s unclear exactly what prompted Lemonis’ defiant declaration. Some news outlets, such as the San Francisco Chronicle, noted that he’s “a familiar face on reality television. He starred in CNBC’s ‘The Profit,’ appeared on ABC’s ‘Secret Millionaire’ and once guest hosted ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’ alongside future president Donald Trump.”

And his protestations that this “isn’t about politics” didn’t keep his statement from becoming a political controversy. Among those calling him out is California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and possible presidential hopeful in 2028 who has feuded with the Trump administration in recent months over a variety of issues, including the President’s decision to send U.S. troops into Los Angeles to protect federal officials in an immigration enforcement action.

Here’s what Newsom’s office had to say on social media about Lemonis’ release: “After their bankruptcy and closure of every store, like most Americans, we thought Bed Bath & Beyond no longer existed. We wish them well in their efforts to become relevant again as they try to open a 2nd store.”

That last line references the fact that thus far, BB&B has reopened just one store, in Nashville. But in coming months, the retailer plans to open numerous stores that Lemonis said will appear “in almost every other state” — just not California.

 Instead, he said, “We are investing in a California strategy that works: 24–48-hour delivery, and in many cases, same-day service. Californians will continue to get the products they love through BedBathandBeyond.com — but without the inflated costs created by an unsustainable model.”

That’s quite a change from just a few years ago; according to a variety of published reports, prior to its most recent round of bankruptcy and store closings, BB&B once had 40-plus stores in California.