BBB Move Into Luxury Crystal Clear

By Don Hogsett -- Home Textiles Today, 11/8/2004 12:00:00 AM

New York —

Expanding its New York City presence — and at the same time extending its product reach further into luxury goods and department store territory — Bed Bath and Beyond has opened a third Manhattan superstore, this time in the densely populated and family-friendly West Side.

The multi-level store opened Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 65th St. and Broadway, occupying the basement floors of a new high-rise luxury apartment tower directly across the street from the Lincoln Center arts campus.

Significant in the new superstore is the retailer's increased penetration of the luxury goods market in the form of an expansive bridal registry area, with the focus on crystal and fine china. In contrast to the boisterous, bazaar-like atmosphere that has become the retailer's trademark, the bridal registry cultivates a more low-key feel, the merchandise highlighted on well-spaced tables, much in the manner of top-tier department stores.

On prominent display is pricey, hand-blown Waterford crystal, along with its more moderately priced sibling, Marquis crystal.

Among fine china nameplates are such prominent top-tier monikers as Villeroy & Boch, Wedgwood, Mikasa, Noritake and Vera Wang.

And the new Manhattan store isn't the only door to get a makeover. The Dadeland Mall Bed Bath & Beyond in Miami is opening its own 2,500-square-foot china, crystal and tableware department this week.

Moving further into traditional department store territory, a 2,800-square-foot cosmetics shop is opening soon at the front of the store to house Harmon Cosmetics, a company earlier acquired by Bed Bath & Beyond.