Several formerly defunct retailers have announced relaunches, or expanded on recent relaunches, this year. Through a variety of strategies, their well-known IPs are coming back, both online and as shop-in-shops and/or standalone retail locations:
- Bed Bath & Beyond returned to bricks-and-mortar retail through partnerships with The Container Store and Kirkland’s, both announced in October. The original chain closed and Overstock (now known as Beyond, Inc., with divisions including Bed Bath & Beyond, Overstock, and Zulily) purchased its intellectual property in 2023, when it became an online-only brand. The Container Store will feature in-store shops of co-branded home goods. There is also the potential for it to sell merchandise tied to its proprietary Elfa and Preston brands in Beyond Inc. online platforms and future Bed Bath & Beyond stores. Beyond Inc. invested in The Container Store as part of the deal. Meanwhile, the Kirkland’s strategic partnership, which also includes a Beyond Inc. investment, will lead to a pilot of up to five small neighborhood Bed Bath & Beyond stores, with Kirkland’s serving as licensee and exclusive operator. Bed Bath & Beyond in-store shops at Kirkland’s are also a possibility for the future. Beyond Inc. will earn a collaboration fee on all Kirkland’s retail and e-commerce revenue, in addition to a royalty on sales of Bed Bath & Beyond-branded merchandise.
- Firefly Brand Management signed a master licensing deal for KB Toys, announced this week, with MH Enterprises. In addition to toys, the licensee holds rights to sell apparel, décor, drinkware, merchandise made of enamel and paper, and comic books, as well as rights for immersive experiences, convention events, and a newsletter. The agreement brings KB back to retail for the first time since its 2008 bankruptcy and 2009 liquidation. The brand’s e-commerce site includes products such as mugs, hoodies, throws, totes, and ornaments in four collections: one featuring the modern KB Toys logo, one highlighting vintage-logoed merchandise, one of holiday products with both identities, and an alumni collection designed for former employees.
- Toys “R” Us continues its expansion, opening bricks-and-mortar stores in Norridge, Illinois, and San Marcos, Texas, this fall. It is also pairing with menswear specialist Bonobos for what is billed as its first-ever brand collaboration featuring its mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe; the limited-edition retro collection includes sweatshirts and wool hats for adults and children. The brand is also opening shop-in-shops at stores operated by the Navy Exchange Service Command starting this fall. WHP Global purchased a controlling stake in TRU in 2021 and opened a flagship store in the American Dream mall that same year, followed by more than 450 shop-in-shops at Macy’s and a 2023 deal with Go! Retail Group to open as many as 24 flagship TRU stores in the U.S. These include a new Mall of America location that opened in November 2023 and the two aforementioned new stores. TRU has expanded internationally as well, pairing with Liverpool in 2023 to launch TRU flagships in Mexico and this year with WHSmith for shop-in-shops in the U.K.
- The new owners of Topshop, which closed its 70 stores in 2020 after going into administration, suggested it may be one of the next former retail names to return as a bricks-and-mortar chain. Asos bought Topshop post-administration and just announced a sale of 75% of the brand to Heartland, a division of Danish retail group Bestseller. Asos had relaunched Topshop in 2021 as an online-only operator, aside from a presence in Nordstrom stores.
These examples of new life for old retail brands are the latest in a continuing trend. But making a comeback is not always easy or successful. BuyBuy Baby, which had 115 stores when it closed in 2023, said late last year that it planned to reopen 11 of its shuttered locations. It had relaunched 10 of them before saying in October—less than a year after the first announcement—that it was reverting to an online-only brand. It is currently holding closeout sales at its physical locations.
The future is likely to increase the pool of defunct retail brands, as financial struggles continue to plague operators, threatening the existence of more current players. Recent happenings among these troubled brands include the bankruptcy of True Value and its sale to rival Do It Best; the Chapter 11 filing of the Franchise Group, owner of The Vitamin Shoppe, Pet Supplies Plus, and two furniture retailers, Buddy’s Home Furnishings and American Freight (which it closed); Big Lots seeing revenue declines and closing hundreds of stores; and the ends of 130-year-old home store Conn’s and home-improvement chain LL Flooring (formerly Lumber Liquidators).
Not all of these, or other brands experiencing similar challenges, are destined for relaunches in new configurations. But it is likely the trend will continue as more legacy chains fail and new owners come in with high hopes for rejuvenating the IPs using fresh strategies that resonate with today’s shoppers.
Raugust Communications’ monthly e-newsletter comes out next Tuesday, November 19, 2024. As the official start of the holiday selling season approaches, the Licensing Topic of the Month will look at topline trends from analysts’ forecasts for the 2024 holiday season, while the Datapoint research spotlight will analyze the ever-popular novelty Christmas sweater market. If you do not yet receive this free monthly publication, please subscribe here.
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