WOODLAND PARK, NJ— Bed Bath & Beyond continues to develop and expand its AndThat! concept, which evolved from the company’s Christmas Tree Shops banner as a growth vehicle that offers consumers a lively shopping environment and provides the parent company a format that can compete with other treasure hunt-oriented retailers.
The Christmas Tree Shops name is a bit problematic when applied in markets outside of New England, where the chain started out. Bed Bath & Beyond acquired Massachusetts-based Christmas Tree Shops in 2003 when that company operated 23 stores from Maine to New York.
Although Bed Bath & Beyond has expanded Christmas Tree Shops down the eastern seaboard and as far west as Alabama and Indiana, the name can create something of a false impression. Christmas Tree Shops offer more than seasonal products and are competitive with the established off-pricers in the market, including HomeGoods, Ross Stores, Big Lots and Stein Mart.
To position the brand identity, Bed Bath & Beyond has developed the AndThat! concept as a retail business that isn’t fixed with a seasonal identification and provides bright and cheerful value-focused merchandise.
About a year and a half ago, Bed Bath & Beyond opened an AndThat! in Kennesaw, GA, as the latest version of the format, Steven Temares, the Bed Bath & Beyond CEO, noted at the company’s annual meeting that it has tweaked and expanded the banner since, first with a Jacksonville, FL, location. Since then, Bed Bath has debuted an AndThat! in Woodland Park, NJ, as part of a three-location launch with stores in Fairfax, VA, and Rehoboth Beach, DE, to follow.
In a third quarter conference call, Temares noted that AndThat! focuses on keeping customers entertained as well as engaged with its merchandising, goods and values.
Temares said, “The evolution of the concept includes an enhanced mix of trend-right, differentiated merchandise of better quality, design and value, in conjunction with an elevated treasure-hunt experience with more local-resourced product, and enhanced fixtures, lighting and in-store visuals that create a fun and engaging shopping experience for the customer.”
The 37,000 square foot Woodland Park store divides into departments with names such as Decorate, with seasonal and other home décor; Entertain, which includes dishware, serveware and related products; Prep, with cookware and kitchen gadgets; Sparkle, which features cleaning and personal care products; and Eat with value-priced specialty foods. The mix of home furnishings, housewares and consumables is key to the AndThat! proposition, defining it as a place where shoppers will find a constantly updated range of merchandise.
The furniture assortment at the Woodland Park store is extensive and offers multiple lighting and furniture presentations including one dubbed Accent. The store mounted cross-merchandised furnishings in grouped displays and vignettes. A chair anchoring a floor display had a table supporting multiple décor items. In another case, a coffee table supported multiple décor and lighting pieces. Nearby, a vignette featured a dining table and tableware.
AndThat! merchandising encourages consumers to think about how its products might combine to enliven their homes and in a variety of ways. Carefully organized end cap displays perform a similar function.
At the same time, the store incorporated item merchandising along walls, in fixtures, bins and baskets, and around columns, all of which emphasize the ease of selecting single products or coordinated sets, as in open-stock tableware, as well as the values the store offers.
In addition, the store provides a display of customizable items linking with PersonalizationMall.com, which Bed Bath & Beyond has acquired. Overall, though, the in-store connection to online retailing is light compared with the company’s namesake stores, which reflects the treasure hunt nature of AndThat! stores. It should be noted, however, that Christmas Tree Shops does operate an e-commerce website where it shares an opening page banner with AndThat!
As a retail proposition, AndThat! draws from the Christmas Tree Shop tradition of combining a strong seasonal offering with goods consumers might need through the year in a varying, off-price style presentation. The concept also draws inspiration from other Bed Bath banners, including Cost Plus, which sits next to the Woodland Park AndThat!
For the home-conscious consumer, one who decorates for holidays, has guests over and likes to freshen the domestic space regularly, AndThat! can help keep their home seasonal and trendy or otherwise up-to-date. Much of the merchandise is inexpensive. Consumables encourage frequent visits and drive the traffic through AndThat! with consistency, and right past pricier furniture. The merchandising is eclectic and colorful, and locations in power centers make AndThat! stores a neighborhood convenience. AndThat! underscores the community association with displays of locally sourced products.
Of the AndThat! format, Temares noted, “We’re excited by the evolved model and believe it is poised for strong growth in the coming years.”
