Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. Appoints Williams-Sonoma Veteran Neil Lick To Lead New Owned Brands Team

UNION, N.J., July 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBY) today announced the appointment of industry veteran Neil Lick as Senior Vice President (SVP), Owned Brands. Lick, formerly of Williams-Sonoma, will lead a newly formed team that expects to develop and launch a portfolio of customer inspired owned brands from 2021. The Company's Product growth strategy includes a sharper focus on product curation and differentiation as well as higher penetration of owned brands in core categories such as bed, bath and kitchen.  

Executive Vice President, Chief Merchandising Officer, Joe Hartsig said: "To rebuild Bed Bath & Beyond's authority as the leading omnichannel Home retailer, we are reimagining how we develop and curate an owned brand assortment.  Neil has deep experience building brands that people love and will spearhead our new owned brand team to curate and develop a portfolio of truly differentiated brands that deepen our penetration in our core categories and our connection with our loyal customers."

Neil Lick said, "At a time when our homes have never been more important to us, I'm excited to join a brand that plays such a vital role in the lives of its customers.  Finding new ways to help customers feel at home couldn't be more relevant or exciting in the current context.  I look forward to playing my part in rebuilding Bed Bath & Beyond's authority with customer inspired brands that are truly differentiating."

Lick comes to Bed Bath & Beyond after a 22-year career at specialty culinary retailer Williams-Sonoma. During his tenure at Williams-Sonoma, Lick held various leadership positions within merchandising, product development, inventory management, and as head of corporate social responsibility. He will report to Joe Hartsig, EVP, Chief Merchandising Officer and lead a cross functional team across the Company. 

The Company's enhanced owned brand strategy will create a more relevant, inspiring and differentiated merchandise assortment exclusive to Bed Bath & Beyond, including in key rooms and occasions where it already has significant market share such as bed, bath and kitchen.  The Company plans to introduce an array of owned brands in 2021 with the anticipation that the portfolio will expand over time.

About Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and subsidiaries (the "Company") is an omnichannel retailer that makes it easy for our customers to feel at home.  The Company sells a wide assortment of domestic merchandise and home furnishings.  The Company also provides a variety of textile products, amenities and other goods to institutional customers in the hospitality, cruise line, healthcare and other industries.  Additionally, the Company is a partner in a joint venture which operates retail stores in Mexico under the name Bed Bath & Beyond.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the Company's progress and anticipated progress towards its long-term objectives and the success of its plans with respect to owned brands.  Many of these forward-looking statements can be identified by use of words such as may, will, expect, anticipate, approximate, estimate, assume, continue, model, project, plan, goal, and similar words and phrases, although the absence of those words does not necessarily mean that statements are not forward-looking.  The Company's actual results and future financial condition may differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements as a result of many factors.  Such factors include, without limitation: general economic conditions including the housing market, a challenging overall macroeconomic environment and related changes in the retailing environment; risks associated with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the governmental responses to it, including its impacts across the Company's businesses on demand and operations, as well as on the operations of the Company's suppliers and other business partners, and the effectiveness of the Company's actions taken in response to these risks; consumer preferences, spending habits and adoption of new technologies; demographics and other macroeconomic factors that may impact the level of spending for the types of merchandise sold by the Company; civil disturbances and terrorist acts; unusual weather patterns and natural disasters; competition from existing and potential competitors across all channels; pricing pressures; liquidity; the ability to achieve anticipated cost savings, and to not exceed anticipated costs, associated with organizational changes and investments, including the Company's strategic restructuring program; the ability to attract and retain qualified employees in all areas of the organization; the cost of labor, merchandise and other costs and expenses; potential supply chain disruption due to trade restrictions, and other factors such as natural disasters, such as pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, political instability, labor disturbances, product recalls, financial or operational instability of suppliers or carriers, and other items; the ability to find suitable locations at acceptable occupancy costs and other terms to support the Company's plans for new stores; the ability to establish and profitably maintain the appropriate mix of digital and physical presence in the markets it serves; the ability to assess and implement technologies in support of the Company's development of its omnichannel capabilities; the ability to effectively and timely adjust the Company's plans in the face of the rapidly changing retail and economic environment, including in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; uncertainty in financial markets; volatility in the price of the Company's common stock and its effect, and the effect of other factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, on the Company's capital allocation strategy; risks associated with the ability to achieve a successful outcome for its business concepts and to otherwise achieve its business strategies; the impact of intangible asset and other impairments; disruptions to the Company's information technology systems including but not limited to security breaches of systems protecting consumer and employee information or other types of cybercrimes or cybersecurity attacks; reputational risk arising from challenges to the Company's or a third party product or service supplier's compliance with various laws, regulations or standards, including those related to labor, health, safety, privacy or the environment; reputational risk arising from third-party merchandise or service vendor performance in direct home delivery or assembly of product for customers; changes to statutory, regulatory and legal requirements, including without limitation proposed changes affecting international trade; changes to, or new, tax laws or interpretation of existing tax laws; new, or developments in existing, litigation, claims or assessments; changes to, or new, accounting standards; and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.  The Company does not undertake any obligation to update its forward-looking statements.

CONTACTS:

INVESTOR CONTACT: Janet M. Barth, (908) 613-5820 or [email protected]
MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Pendry, (347) 604-0381 or [email protected]

SOURCE Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.