Great news on the private label merch that will solidify our future as the leading home goods retailer!
https://businessofhome.com/articles/bed-bath-and-beyond-private-label-program
10 replies (most recent on top)
Aww... I was the designer for Wamsutta brand at BBBY, I am glad people remembered BBBY by Wamsutta's name, that means our Wam team did a great job for our customer. It was a licensed brand, Himasingka produced for us for sheets, towels were produced in Egypt, not by Himasingka. I think there is loyalty in brands, and it's too bad that they built the brand and destroyed it after it's success. It's sad to see Bed Bath going down so quickly.
Wamsutta is an old brand and has been around for over a century. BBBY only acquired the brand around 2012 or something like that. When I lived in Texas I worked for Dillards Dept Store and Wamsutta was sold in our stores in the late 90s and early 2000s. They'll find another home once they part from BBBY for good. It's good stuff. Maybe Macy's will pick it up if they haven't sold it already in the past.
Wamsutta is not a licensed brand. It is owned by BBB. Has been for years.
We have customers waiting in line for us to open every morning, just to buy our private label merchandise. The loyalty is amazing. Once you show the customers the quality they will never shop anywhere else.
The funny thing is that BBBY Wamsutta was actually a license attached to Himatsingka bedding and towels. Now, instead of paying extra to use the Wamsutta name, they came up with their own names - Everhome, Haven, Nestwell - to attach to... wait for it... Himatsingka bedding and towels!
But, yeah, good luck getting a customer to understand that.
they can't even follow through with launches anymore; has anyone else been getting in a bunch of Everhome merchandise? we started getting it a month or so ago, and it's in almost every department except kitchen, but unlike the other brands, they haven't said a word about it to us in store, or even posted a d-mb training session on mysource
I work on soft side and I have customers mainly in sheets and pillows that walk out on a daily basis empty handed because they have sworn by wamsutta for years and we can no longer give that to them. This company has been completely destroyed by the current regime. It’s sad. Sure there were problems but the core of the company and the framework was solid. And it was backed by dependable products and a good variety. And there was always a friendly associate to help the customer navigate the store. My question is how did these people join this company and look at that way of doing things and decide it was wrong and come to a decision to junk it all and leave us with what we have now?
The replies are speaking the truth! Poor quality merchandise that's not even regularly in stock. How will this drive customers in to shop? We were always known for quality and selection, no longer! Customers can find the same quality at Walmart and Target at better prices.
people didn't come to BBB for the owned brands, they came to BBB for more selection then you'll get at a big box store. now we replaced the brands people know with our owned stuff, which is poorer quality for either the exact same price, or higher. take something simple like, say, kitchen towels. why would someone pay the exact same price or more for an ourtable towel, when kitchensmart was cheaper and better quality? same goes for pillows and bedding, people know wamsutta; they don't know what everhome or nestwell or haven is, and it's not the same quality. but hey, if there's one thing shoppers like, it's being treated like id--ts
Lol! Too bad it hasn't worked. First, they didn't launch half a dozen new brands - they renamed and repackaged existing brands for the most part. The designs were not differentiated enough and the loss of quality with the replacement products was too obvious to the customer and the rest of the industry. It is very difficult and very expensive to regain a customer once they've left and decided to purchase somewhere else.