Bed Bath & Beyond Looks to Sell PersonalizationMall.com for $252M

UNION, NJ—Locally based national retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. reports it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its PersonalizationMall.com business to 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. for $252 million.

Following the closing of the transaction, PersonalizationMall.com will continue to provide product and personalization services to Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy BABY. The transaction is expected to close during the company’s fiscal 2020 first quarter.

Mark Tritton, Bed Bath & Beyond’s president and CEO, says of the deal, “This transaction is another important step towards simplifying our portfolio and deepening our focus on our core Home, Baby and Beauty businesses. By unlocking valuable capital from within our business, we can accelerate the company’s ongoing business transformation and our efforts to re-establish Bed Bath & Beyond’s authority in the home space.”

Advisors to Bed Bath & Beyond on this transaction included Goldman Sachs & Co LLC and Proskauer Rose LLP.

Last week, Bed Bath & Beyond reported preliminary, unaudited financial performance data for the first two months of the fiscal 2019 fourth quarter (December 2019 and January 2020) that included a 5.4% decline in comparable sales that was driven primarily by store traffic declines combined with inventory management issues, and increased promotional activity and markdowns.

Tritton said the firm is “experiencing short-term pain in our efforts to stabilize the business, including the pressures of store traffic trends coupled with our own executional challenges. However, we did achieve a notable positive shift in sales in our digital channels during this period, with growth of approximately 20%. I believe we can solidify this growth, while also addressing the broader stabilization of our business.”