This week, the powers that be announced Bed Bath & Beyond is closing for good. The news wasn't surprising, but I still feel disappointment.
It was a store for seminal changes in life. Going to college, moving into your first apartment or home, getting married, getting divorced - any situation that required starting anew.
With its closing, a few generations of consumers lose a store closely tied to our milestones and memories. We're left with only the part that is Beyond.
BBB was often the go-to place for buying (or registering to get gifts of) towels, storage options, organization, bedding, small appliances, dishes, cookware, and more. With the help of his mom, my husband bought several cart-loads of items there when he purchased his first home just before we met. We registered there for wedding gifts, most of which we still use 15 years later.
Local columnist and author Connie Schultz recently shared a poignant story of shopping at BBB after a divorce. Shortly before she left her marital home and started over as a single mom, she purchased two boxes of everyday china -- a symbol to her and her daughter that things were going to be alright. Ten years after, she bought a matching cup, which holds a necklace given to her by her now-husband of two decades. It's a sweet story of a purchase that signified steadiness, and the store where she bought some hope.
I have my own sentimental story of BBB and a landmark occasion in my life.
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| Hannah Platinum by Lenox |
Having grown up in a tumultuous family that straddled the poverty line, I had no cause to think I would ever own - much less use - elegant china plates. Although formal tableware was falling out of favor even then, when I got married in my 20s I made a point to register for Lenox china place settings. I picked out the pattern after looking at several in person, an option increasingly unavailable due to the exponential rise in online shopping.
Each five-piece set included three plates, a delicate teacup, and a saucer. The pattern was fanciful yet accessible - a white-on-white palmetto motif encircling the plate, and a silver edge. I didn't know it then, but the palmetto tree is a symbol of courage and strength due to its ability to withstand hurricanes. When paired with sparkling crystal glasses and a fabric napkin, my grown-up table would look like something younger me could only dream about - beautiful, strong, and enduring.
I cried when I received my first Lenox china place setting from my wedding registry. It came in the mail from my aunt and uncle shortly before my bridal shower, and I marveled that - at last - I was who I had fought to become. I was a
survivor of my childhood, a vibrant adult who was building a stable home for a
future family, and a person who deserved to own nice things that would never end up
in a landfill. Who would have thought I could get out, make something of myself, and own china plates?
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| Palmetto is a symbol of strength |
China isn't really a status symbol anymore, but it was for me then. That Bed Bath & Beyond box held much more than just tableware. It was a box of the beautiful life that was my future.
I can buy Lenox china, Wamsutta towels, and Calphalon cookware from a number of different websites now. It will still be shipped to me in a box. And when I get them, these items will be ordinary everyday things that I open and don't wonder at anymore. There are other, more incredible things that catch my breath now - how fast my precious children grow, for example, or another year turned over on the calendar.
Ready or not, change comes.
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