Bed Bath & Beyond will enter the Hawaii market in late summer with a 65,000-square-foot store in the old Circuit City building at Pearlridge Center.

The New Jersey-based, publicly traded lifestyle retailer sells bed linens, bath towels and accessories, window treatments, cookware, dinner- and tableware, juvenile products and more, in stores typically ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 square feet, though some are larger than 80,000 square feet.

The Pearlridge store “;will be a big store, giving (customers) a lot of time to shop,”; said Catherine Gentile, spokeswoman for Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. It will include a bridal and gift registry.

Bed Bath & Beyond operates in the United States and Canada and has affiliated chains including Christmas Tree Shops, Harmon, Harmon Face Values and Buybuy Baby in the U.S. It also does business under the name Home & More in Mexico, under a joint venture.

The building constructed specifically for Circuit City was vacated in March as part of the electronics retailer's bankruptcy, “;so it hasn't been vacant that long,”; said Fred Paine, Pearlridge Center general manager.

Nevertheless, the deal with BB&B “;has been a long time coming,”; he said. “;A lot of work went into putting this deal together. We feel extremely lucky and fortunate to have found Bed Bath & Beyond. It'll be a great boost to this area and the mall and Oahu and even the neighbor islands.”;

Sears and Macy's, also at Pearlridge, also sell linens, towels and other bed and bath accessories, but one business truism says, “;A rising tide lifts all boats,”; while another is that competition is good.

Because of the recession, more people are “;cocooning at home,”; which is why home entertainment has also grown, said real estate analyst Stephany Sofos.

People who have given up frequent restaurant meals or other indulgences will spend some of those savings “;to make (themselves) feel good at home,”; she said.

It is a good time for BB&B to be entering the market, as good commercial real estate deals are available, said Carol Pregill, executive director of Retail Merchants of Hawaii.

“;It's the time to do it, because we've seen a lot of companies expand during the good times, only to have the rug pulled out”; when things started going south.

The first two floors of the three-story building comprise the retail space, while the third can be used for storage, which BB&B will need as it establishes its supply chain. Part of the second floor is open and provides sort of an atrium effect on the first floor, Paine said.

Construction is already under way. “;We've got some work we have to do ... and then they come in, so the work has begun,”; he said.

ON THE NET:
» www.bedbathandbeyond.com
» rmhawaii.org