What Does The Sale Of Christmas Tree Shops Mean For Bed Bath & Beyond?

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) continues to transform its retail operations, selling off its Christmas Tree Shops, Linen Holdings business, and a distribution center in Florence, New Jersey.

The home goods retailer made the announcement on Tuesday, saying at the time that it expected to generate about $250 million from the sale of the business units as it looks to "optimize" its portfolio. The company also said there are plans for a potential sale of additional non-core assets that would provide it with more "financial strength."

Bed Bath & Beyond will sell its Christmas Tree Shops to Handil Holdings LLC, including 80 stores and a Middleborough, Massachusetts, distribution center. Handil Holdings expects to continue operating the stores as a stand-alone retail brand. The deal with Handil Holdings is expected to close in November and will include a transition agreement to move through the holiday season with ease.

The deal for Bed Bath & Beyond's Linen Holdings business was made with Linen Group LLC – an affiliate of Lion Equity Partners. The Linen Holdings operations will be merged with Riegel Linen – a line within Lion Equity's portfolio of companies. Linen Holdings offers linen, terry, amenities, case goods, and apparel to the global hospitality and healthcare industries. The sale is expected to close in October.

The distribution center in Florence, New Jersey, will be sold to an unnamed institutional buyer. Bed Bath & Beyond will continue to operate out of the facility during the transition period through a lead agreement. The deal is expected to close in October.

CEO and President Mark Tritton, said in a statement, "Today's announcement builds on the purposeful steps we have made throughout the year to simplify our portfolio, unlock capital and create clear strategic focus to accelerate our plans to build our authority in the home, baby, beauty and wellness markets.

"Customers are responding well to the introduction of our new omni-always services, and we will continue to invest in our digital-first experience with a customer-inspired assortment that makes it easy to feel at home with Bed Bath & Beyond," he added.

Bed Bath & Beyond continues to pare down its business, announcing in September that it would be closing 63 stores. The company said the move was part of its restructuring plans. The company also operates the Buy Buy BABY, Harmon Face Values, and World Market brands.

Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond were trading at $24.00 as of 2:00 EDT, up $1.85 or 8.37%.