An Aug. 20 Newsmax article by Lee Barney hyped the latest right-wing friendly media narrative:
As Bed Bath & Beyond begins its rollout of physical stores in the U.S., Executive Chairman Marcus Lemonis says there is no way the popular retailer will return to California — and the “decision isn’t about politics.”
The reason, Lemonis says, is California is unwelcoming to businesses in just about every way.
“California has created one of the most overregulated, expensive, and risky environments for businesses in America,” Lemonis says in a statement. “It’s a system that makes it harder to employ people, harder to keep doors open, and harder to deliver value to customers.”
Barney waited until the end of his article to disclose information that undercuts the importance of the announcement: Bed Bath & Beyond closed all stores in 2023 and a new owner is trying to revive the brand; its first store had just opened two weeks earlier in Nashille.
The next day, an article by Nicole Weatherholtz seemed annoyed that Gov. Gavin Newsom poimted that out:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office took a swipe at Bed, Bath & Beyond after the company announced that it won’t return to the Golden State as it begins its rollout of new brick-and-mortar stores.
“After their bankruptcy and closure of every store, like most Americans, we thought Bed, Bath & Beyond no longer existed,” Newsom’s office posted on social platform X on Wednesday.
“We wish them well in their efforts to become relevant again as they try to open a 2nd store,” the account added.
Michael Reagan (and Michael R. Shannon) served up its own revisionist history of the bankrupt company in his Aug. 26 column:
The Bed, Bath & Beyond experience ended during the Panicdemic when shopping malls were closed, and America became a nation of shut ins.
That spelled doom for Bed, Bath & Beyond and its more than 1,500 stores spread across the United States.
It filed for bankruptcy in April of 2023.
In fact, as we pointed out when WorldNetDaily tried to falsely blame the company’s woes on discontinuing the sale of election truther Mike Lindell’s MyPillow products, its doom was sealed by doing things like billions of dollars spent on stock buybacks instead of investing into the business. Also, most Bed Bath & Beyond were located in strip malls, not indoor shopping malls.
Reagan then whined about California and misinterpreted Newsom’s response:
Lemonis issued a comprehensive indictment and it echoes many of our observations regarding California’s anti–business climate and its posturing politicians who demonstrate their virtue by forcing taxpayers to support their pet projects.
Minimum wage increases, minimum law shoplifting enforcement and the general decline of public spaces in the formerly Golden State make retailing there a risky proposition. This is why corporations are joining an exodus out of the state.
Newsom’s Trump derivative social media team had a predictably snarky response the Lemonis’ statement. “We wish them well in their efforts to become relevant again as they try to open a 2nd store.”
Jobs? Who needs new jobs in California? Newsom and his team are already employed.
Reagan didn’t mention that the company currently has only one store located far away in Tennessee that had opened just a couple weeks earlier.