Bankrupt Retailer BuyBuy Baby Set to Close All Stores and Move Online

Another retailer is saying bye-bye to its brick-and-mortar stores after failing to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Baby wares seller BuyBuy Baby announced last week that all of its physical stores will close by the end of the year as the company transitions into a “strategic reset” as a “digital-first brand” focusing on the “online shopping experience,” according to its website.

“We understand this may be disappointing news, and we want all our customers to know this wasn’t a choice we took lightly,” the company said in a statement Friday. “The loyalty and support of our customers over the years have meant the world to us.”

A spokesperson for BuyBuy Baby did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

The decision comes after BuyBuy Baby filed for Chapter 11 in New Jersey Bankruptcy Court in April 2023 after its former parent company, Bed Bath & Beyond, also filed for bankruptcy and liquidated all of its stores.

Last year, BuyBuy Baby reopened some locations under new parent Dream On Me, which bought 11 store leases in seven states for $1.2 million, including four stores in New Jersey and one in Scarsdale, N.Y. Those shops will now be closing as part of BuyBuy Baby’s new plan to focus exclusively on online sales.

“The demand of consumers has changed, and as such, so are we,” BuyBuy Baby said in a statement to Retail Dive. “Based on the feedback from our loyal customers, we are shifting away from the brick-and-mortar model for the near future and redefining ourselves as a digital-first brand.”

BuyBuy Baby, which once had as many as 120 locations across the U.S., is offering “significant discounts on almost everything in-store” as part of the online transition, the company said. The big-box retail chain specializes in strollers, cribs, clothing, diaper bags and other items for infants and young children.

Meanwhile, the company’s former parent Bed Bath & Beyond announced last week that it was returning to physical stores in a partnership with its old rival The Container Store, CNN reported.

BuyBuy Baby is far from the only retailer to shutter its stores this year. In September, LL Flooring announced it was shutting down more than 400 stores after filing for bankruptcy in August, and eventually the company went out of business, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

And just last week, Walgreens said it was closing approximately 1,200 stores over the next three years to control costs and optimize its footprint, CO reported.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.