With national retailer Bed Bath & Beyond declaring bankruptcy on Sunday, the owners of shopping plazas may have a challenge in filling the large spaces left empty.
In February, Bed Bath and Beyond announced locations at 17 Highland Commons East in Hudson and 76 Orchard Hill Park Drive in Leominster would close as the company fought to stay in business.
The one remaining Central Massachusetts location was in Auburn at 366 Southbridge St. It is a co-tenant with Shaw’s Supermarket. The owner of that shopping center is ISM Holdings Inc. of Boylston, according to Town of Auburn property records. Bed Bath and Beyond leases 21,779 square feet of space there, according to real estate research firm CoStar.
In Leominster, Bed Bath and Beyond leased more than 43,000 square feet of space from Lisciotti Development Corp. of Leominster.
In Hudson, the retailer leased just less than 25,000 square feet from SullivanHayes Northeast of Farmington, Conn.
Todd Alexander, executive vice president and retail specialist with Worcester commercial real estate brokerage Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates, said large retail spaces like these may require some innovative thinking.
“There aren’t many users looking for that kind of space,” said Alexander, whose firm doesn’t represent any of the affected plazas.
Alexander himself has had success recently moving a furniture store into a space at 50 Southwest Cutoff in Worcester, a new Harbor Freight Tools in Marlborough, opening May 30, and an Ocean State Job Lot expansion.
He suggests large retail spaces could be subdivided into smaller spaces, or that indoor recreational users like indoor trampoline parks or indoor pickleball courts could fill that kind of space.
