Maybe it has two stores left. Maybe a few more. Or maybe there are no stores left, only departments in another store. And who knows who is actually doing the buying and merchandising.
Whatever exactly is going on with Rooms + Spaces, the Canadian retail brand that bought Bed Bath & Beyond’s operation north of the border, one thing is clear: it is continuing to deteriorate and it’s likely the story won’t end well.
Conflicting reports provide conflicting answers to exactly what is the status of the retailer, which was created last summer when Canadian entrepreneur Doug Putman bought 24 of Bed Bath & Beyond’s Canadian locations and opened up 21 of them under the Rooms + Spaces name. Putman, who also owns the Toys’R’Us and Babies’R’Us brands in Canada as well as assorted holdings in the entertainment and music fields under his Putman Investments company, talked enthusiastically about building the business out to regain BBB’s place in the market. He even hired Greg Dyer, who had headed up Bed Bath Canada, as the president of the new operation.
Things began to unravel pretty quickly. Vendors began to complain privately that they weren’t being paid or if they were, it was for less than the face value of their outstanding invoices. Dyer left at the end of 2023 without any official explanation though it does seem it was his choice.
In the meantime Putman began closing stores and by January of this year, the Rooms + Spaces website only showed eight locations remaining. At least one vendor, speaking off the record, said the entire merchandising staff for the retailer, had been let go and all buying was being handled by the Toys merchants.
This vendor forwarded an email communication she received from the buyer that handled its products that said, “Our owner has made the decision to operate rooms+spaces with a reduced store count (8 stores), a shop-in-shop concept within select Toys R Us locations and online at http://www.roomsandspaces.ca. The business will be transitioned over and managed by the Toys R Us buying team. They are working through what that looks like and who the go forward contact will be.”
That buyer indicated they would no longer be with the company after the end of January.
Less than a month later the situation is even more mirky. Rooms + Spaces website now shows just two locations remaining but two different vendors – neither of whom is doing business with the company any longer – said these were actually departments within existing Toys’R’Us stores.
Google Maps confirms there are only two stores still open but it’s unclear if they are separate from adjacent Toys locations.
And Rooms + Spaces itself, as it has for my inquiries over recent months, remains silent. Repeated requests to the company have gone unanswered so whatever information is being gleamed is coming from outside sources. The last press release on its website is the one from May announcing the company’s creation.
That website still proclaims it has “locations coast to coast” but all that seem to remain are the ones at West Edmonton Mall, the giant retail complex in Alberta province, and in Brantford, about an hour outside of Toronto in Ontario province.
Rooms + Spaces, like its Bed Bath & Beyond forerunner, once had great promise. Sadly, the two brands seem to have more tragic outcomes in common as well.
WarrensReport 