It’s time to say “bye, bye” to buybuy Baby’s physical stores, as the company announced Oct. 18 that the remaining 10 locations will be shuttered by the end of the year, opting to transition to an exclusively online format.
“We’re transforming into a digital-first brand, focusing all our energy on providing an exceptional online shopping experience,” reads a statement on their website’s blog.
The store continued to note that this “strategic reset” came after listening to customer and partner feedback.
“With this shift, we’ve come to the difficult decision of closing our physical stores by the end of this year,” the company wrote. “We understand this may be disappointing news, and we want all our customers to know this wasn’t a choice we took lightly.”
Starting on Oct. 18, buybuy Baby began offering “significant discounts on almost everything in-store.”
“This is a great chance to stock up on favored items, while supplies last, and say goodbye to our buybuy Baby stores,” the company wrote.
Gift cards will be honored in store until Oct. 31 and then only online afterward. Baby registries will stay available online.
“The loyalty and support of our customers over the years have meant the world to us,” the company wrote. “The relationships we’ve built in-store have been truly special, and we’re incredibly grateful for the time shared with us.”
The decision to shut down buybuy Baby stores has been an ongoing challenge for the past year.
In April 2023, Bed Bath & Beyond, buybuy Baby’s parent company, filed for bankruptcy protection. Shortly after, in July, all 115 locations of buybuy Baby announced they would be shutting down, CNBC reported.
As part of the bankruptcy liquidation, all buybuy Baby stores were shuttered and the company’s intellectual property assets were bought by Dream on Me Industries for $15.5 million.
For an addition $1.17 million, Dream on Me Industries also purchased 11 of the leases for buybuy Baby.
In November 2023, Dream on Me Industries announced plans to relaunch buybuy Baby’s website and reopen 11 stores, with plans to open over 120 stores nationwide over three years.
That relaunch plan led to 10 buybuy Baby stores with locations in Braintree, Massachusetts; Scarsdale, New York; Rockville, Maryland; Christiana, Delaware; West Hartford, Connecticut; Springfield, Virginia; and four in New Jersey in Bridgewater, Cherry Hill, Iselin and Paramus.
Now, all 10 stores will be closing by the end of the year.
“We’re committed to making this transition as smooth as possible,” it says on the buybuy Baby blog post. “While we’re saying goodbye to our physical stores, we’re not saying goodbye to our customers!”