Credit: Unsplash

I guess they needed all the space for the Beyond section.

Home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond hasn’t been doing so hot lately. It’s currently in the process of closing over 200 retail locations over the next couple of years in order to save some cash. One of the locations that’s going bye-bye is located in the affluent neighborhoods of Manhattan. Due to the pandemic mucking things up, folks have been leaving Manhattan in droves, either due to being unable to pay the high rents or just wanting to leave the city. Property holders have had to jack up rents on large businesses to compensate, and BBB can’t pay. It’s for this reason another retailer is swooping in to claim their massive space.

Home Depot announced today that they will be purchasing the lease to BBB’s 120,000 square foot space on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It’s going to be a long-haul project; not only will some work likely have to be done to make the four-story space fit Home Depot’s needs, their regular rent is expected to be nearly twice what BBB paid. Luckily for Home Depot, the increased interest in home restoration projects in people stuck inside their houses has served them a pretty steady profit.

“We signed the lease in April,” Jeff Mooallem, president and CEO of real estate company Gazit Horizons, said in an interview. “The biggest hang-up in the deal was neither party knew what it would cost to retrofit this. … Both of us needed to do some due diligence to see if the deal was even achievable from a structural stand point.”

With only three days left until Halloween, it’s time to add the final touches of decor.

A big thank you to @shardsofblue for the custom skeleton drawing! pic.twitter.com/rmZYB5FELm

— The Home Depot (@HomeDepot) October 28, 2020

“The reports of retail’s death in New York City have been greatly exaggerated,” he added. “The execution of this lease, at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, is an important sign of confidence in New York.”

Home Depot already has two locations open in New York City, though once the Upper East Side location is finished and opened for business, they plan to close the location in Midtown. “We believe this location will be more convenient for residential neighborhoods and look forward to continuing to serve our customers on the Upper East Side,” a Home Depot spokesperson said.