I am becoming a fan of Bed Bath & Beyond and the decisive, meaningful steps Tritton and his team are making. Unlike other turnarounds where the moves were incremental and modest, it’s clear that Tritton isn’t afraid of making substantial changes. I like where Bed, Bath & Beyond is heading and I encourage Tritton to keep his foot firmly on the gas pedal. There’s still much more to do.

I am a firm believer in Mark Tritton and I agree with all of the steps he is taking. They are both logical and customer-centric. Under his leadership, I have no doubt that Bed Bath & Beyond will improve. However this is going to take time. Many stores have not yet changed and still exhibit the old “pile it high” mentality which makes them look cluttered and unappealing. The brand also needs to work harder on its point of differentiation, including private label products. All of this needs to be done against a backdrop of increasing competition and a market that may soften after this year’s boom. In short, Bed Bath & Beyond is in the right hands but it still has some convincing to do!

I’m making the call now – Bed Bath & Beyond will look and feel more like what Target is now by this time next year. You’ll start to see more internal and celebrity brands and a less cluttered store (CFO announced earlier). Step 1, the “put the team together” step, looks complete. I think they have what it takes to execute, but staying focused and on-message wasn’t always the strength in the last regime — so I’m curious to see how well they focus on change management!

I like the moves. They are strategic and make sense financially and for targeting the consumer. I see no regrets in the future. However “turning the corner” is a long way off. The real question is how relevant a Bed Bath & Beyond store is in today’s marketplace.

The cemeteries are filled with attempted retail turnarounds. It is a sad history. The reason is simple. Once a consumer changes a habit or desire, it is tough to change it back.

I have always been a fan of Bed Bath & Beyond and it was hard – because I am not a marketer – to understand why every customer of Bed Bath & Beyond’s didn’t feel like a kid in a candy store. Some of the things that will help with the recovery are: improvement in some IT aspects, weaning customers from the 20 percent-off coupons unless Bed Bath & Beyond can subtly make up the deficit in marking up the products, and constantly working on a friendly, service-oriented, product-knowledgeable store labor force. There is no substitute for this last effort in a footprint that large. We have some ideas…

Bed Bath & Beyond’s transformation was a long time coming and they have the leadership in place, starting with CEO Mark Tritton, to continue to make the necessary moves to be relevant and profitable. While the turnaround and restructuring plan included closing unprofitable locations, curating assortments, and driving value-driven private label offerings, there also was an element of human capital restructuring/job eliminations to meet the needs of a digital-first customer.

It’s clear that more of the same, which included piling assortments high and taking a push approach to retail, was not going to resonate with a marketplace that has shifted to how Target does business across digital channels. With that said, these first steps have proven to be successful — Bed Bath & Beyond has the right team in place.

The home sector was once disrupted by Bed Bath & Beyond 30-plus years ago, however consumer behaviors have changed. Bed Bath & Beyond is on the right path yet there is still much to be done.

Mr. Tritton’s quote in this discussion signals what looks like a great plan structure, so if executed well things should continue to improve. Rather than focus on just digital, e-commerce and related omnichannel, he mentions the customer-inspired assortment. You can have all the greatest omnichannel this/that, but if your experience and offerings fail to connect or are not priced right then it’s all wasted. It shows also the underlying inference here – that the omnichannel digital work and assortment decisions feed off one another based on the underlying data and analytics.

Nine months later, yes improvement was positively made in the direction of Tritton’s “omni-always” goals. Bed Bath & Beyond’s new website is clean and simply merchandised with nice visuals allowing a shopper to instantly change product colorways, especially in bedding, which many Bed Bath & Beyond competitors fail to address. Tritton’s five-pillar strategy focused on product, price, promise, place, and people is the real challenge. Product, price, place is much easier to master than people and promise. Transitioning years of inbred “this is how we do it” behavior into authentic customer-centric in-store customer service is extremely difficult on so many levels in so many stores in so many geographical regions. The risk of failing to change the hearts and minds of front-line associates, as a means to fulfill the new Bed Bath & Beyond promise, is very real. My bet is on Mark Tritton.

Bold moves by Mark Tritton to make Bed Bath & Beyond successful again! His five pillar strategy for the business focused on product, price, promise, place and people with an immediate concentration on omni-always and creating a differentiated shopping experience in stores seems on-point. Now it all comes down to aligning all teams under the same goals which is easier said than done.

These early signs indicate that BBBY is on the right path to reinvention. Particularly, streamlining their business holdings to increase focus on four core categories is just smart business. No doubt that extra revenue can help soften the blow of declining in-store sales.

While BBBY definitely stepped up their online game amidst store closings earlier this year, I’d still like to see a more user-friendly website experience from this retailer. Beyond that, I expect they can bring a savvy intelligence and unique point-of-difference to the Home, Baby, Beauty and Wellness Categories. Looking forward to see how Tritton and Team make continued impact over the next 12 months. Then we will have a solid indication of sustainable success. I will be rooting for them in the meantime.