In a shakeup of the business, Bed Bath & Beyond has announced a key strategic deal with The Kroger Co., a new digital marketplace to build on the company’s existing business in key Home and Baby categories and changes to the executive suite.
The Kroger Co. will offer its customers an extensive selection of home and baby products carried by Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. through Kroger.com as well as a small-scale physical store pilot at select Kroger banners beginning in 2022. The collaboration will include popular items from bedding and storage to baby furniture and gear from Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy Baby’s assortment, including the company’s exclusive “owned brands” as well as national labels.
The marketplace will expand Bed Bath & Beyond’s assortment of key products from a highly curated selection of third-party brand partners that will be integrated with the company’s digital platform.
To support the changes and ongoing strategic development, Bed Bath & Beyond is realigning organizational infrastructure and refreshing its leadership team to support the company’s revamped business model, it stated. Bed Bath & Beyond has named Anu Gupta chief growth officer, a newly created position that will focus on internal and external growth opportunities, as well as cross-functionally to continue managing the company’s business transformation. She was Bed Bath & Beyond’s chief strategy and transformation officer and is a former Target executive.
In addition, the company reported, Bed Bath & Beyond named Rafeh Masood, its current chief digital officer and interim chief brand officer to chief customer officer, also a newly created position that will combine his digital and brand roles, the company noted. In the new structure, John Hartmann, Bed Bath & Beyond’s chief operating officer and president of buybuy Baby will assume responsibility for partnership execution in addition to his leadership across IT and supply chain.
Bed Bath president and CEO Mark Tritton said in announcing the strategic changes, “On my second anniversary as CEO, I am excited and inspired by the change and momentum we have created in this business as we continue to fortify our competitive positioning and customer acquisition strategy. The marketplace is yet another example of how we continue to redefine our business model. We are developing new avenues of long-term profitable growth to allow us to organically build on our existing authority in the Home and Baby categories. We will continue to leverage our market position to drive both customer acquisition and retention.”
