CALIFORNIA — Bed Bath & Beyond will return to California through the rebranding of 12 Container Store locations as "The Container Store + Bed Bath & Beyond," with the transition beginning Friday. The rebranding covers 98 Container Store locations nationwide and will offer both organizational products and home merchandise.

Five of the California stores are in Southern California, including one in Los Angeles and another in El Segundo. The transition will involve liquidating 30% of The Container Store's categories and products, and the new store formats will begin changing in May.

"This is a reset with purpose. We are actively reshaping our stores to make room for what's next," Jen Pape, senior vice president of The Container Store, said.

The return comes less than a year after the company's chairman said Bed Bath & Beyond would not reopen in the state. The retailer once operated 80 locations in strip malls and shopping centers across California before shuttering all its storefronts following its 2023 bankruptcy filing.

Marcus Lemonis, the company's executive chairman, wrote in a statement on X in August: "It's a system that makes it harder to employ people, harder to keep doors open, and harder to deliver value to customers." In a more recent post on X, Lemonis wrote, "Thank you for the massive incentives. We are happy to add @BedBathBeyond to our lineup so we can generate the revenue needed to hurdle the higher than normal operating cost."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded on X. "After their bankruptcy and closure of every store, like most Americans, we thought Bed, Bath & Beyond no longer existed. We wish them well in their efforts to become relevant again," Newsom said. In a separate post, he wrote, "With a thriving economy growing faster than all other developed nations, California always reaches out with an open hand — not a closed fist."

Bed Bath & Beyond acquired The Container Store in April for about $150 million in stock and convertible notes. The Container Store filed for bankruptcy in 2024 and exited bankruptcy in early 2025.