Bed Bath & Beyond discontinues Wild Sage private brand as it tries to

Bed Bath & Beyond is axing one of its private labels, Wild Sage, about a year after the company made an aggressive push into exclusive brands, at the time touted as a linchpin of its turnaround strategy.

A spokeswoman for the home goods retailer confirmed the brand is being discontinued.

The move is likely just the start of bigger changes for Bed Bath and its merchandising approach as it tries to reverse declining sales, appease activist investors and win back shoppers. The retailer has run into inventory and supply chain problems, initially missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars of sales due to out-of-stock items and, more recently, a glut of unwanted products lingering in warehouses and on store shelves.

Bed Bath is also looking for a new leader, after the board announced in late June that CEO Mark Tritton and chief merchandising officer Joe Hartsig had left the company. Its chief accounting officer also departed in June.

In a company statement, Bed Bath and Beyond said private labels — which it calls “owned brands” — “have a place in our assortment.”

“Customer response has been positive, and we are very pleased with the strength of several owned brands, such as Simply Essential, which delivers opening price points,” the company said. “At the same time, we recognize our customers want a better balance of owned and national brands, and are making necessary changes to the assortment to improve the customer experience and drive sales and traffic.”

Bed Bath said it will provide more updates to its strategy this month. Its spokeswoman did not say whether the company is considering phasing out other private brands.

Private labels became a central piece of Tritton’s vision and a dominant part of Bed Bath’s stores. Tritton, a Target veteran, joined Bed Bath in 2019 and rolled out a playbook similar to the one used by the cheap chic retailer. He oversaw the decluttering of stores and the debut of lines of bedding, kitchen supplies and more that couldn’t be found anywhere else.

Bed Bath launched nine private labels starting in spring 2021. One was Wild Sage, a brand that the company described as “stylish, eclectic, free-spirited bedding, decor, furniture, bath products and table linens created for young adults (and the young at heart).” The first collection launched in June 2021, just in time for back-to-college season.

Yet some shoppers found the new brand names disorienting — and less appealing. Instead of seeing large displays of big-name national brands, they saw displays of bedding, furniture and platterware under a name that they didn’t recognize.

Same-store sales plummeted 27% for the Bed Bath & Beyond banner in the most recent quarter, ended May 28.