Uh Oh, Broad City Might Have Ruined the Best Things About Bed Bath & Beyond
In the long tradition of people destroying the things they love the most, it seems that Broad City‘s Abbi just might have ruined one of the best things about her beloved Bee-Bee-n-BEE, otherwise known as Bed Bath & Beyond. Tragic, we know!
As all lovers of anything Broad City know, there is no place on earth that makes Abbi happier than the home goods emporium Bed Bath & Beyond. She can buy anything there! An air conditioner! An ottoman! A SodaStream! And she can buy it with coupons that never expire, because BB&B coupons never expire—the only reason they have expiration dates on them is to throw fools like Bevers off the scent. And yet another reason to love the store is that you can return anything at any time with no receipt. Amazing! In fact, in a recent interview with New York‘s Jada Yuan, Abbi and Ilana made clear that the love for Bed Bath & Beyond isn’t just “Abbi” the character’s, it’s also Abbi (and Ilana) the person‘s:
“Yeah, people think that, like, those are paid sponsorships and it’s not,” says Abbi. “Like, we pay to shoot in there.” Abbi’s mom worked at Bed Bath & Beyond when she was in middle school and high school, which is how she knows that their coupons never expire, despite having an expiration date. The episode in the show where Bevers throws out all her BBB coupons because they’ve expired actually happened to Abbi with an old roommate. “We’re not supposed to say [that the coupons don’t expire] anymore,” says Abbi. “I think we said it too much.” But Ilana can’t help but give a shout-out to their three-wick candles, which she buys in bulk and carries in her bike basket back to the East Village. “They also let you return shit at like any fucking time,” says Ilana. “It’s a great store.”
Ilana is totally right! BB&B is a great store! Maybe even the best store! Or, you know, it was. Because news came today via Racked that BB&B’s generous, trusting—some would even call it naïve, but not us—return policy is about to end: “Effective April 20th, the company is changing its famously generous return policy, and will deduct 20 percent from returns that don’t have receipts.” Noooooooo!!!!
Only, you know, yes. As it turns out, some people were taking advantage of the return policy, and the store just couldn’t take it anymore. And it’s maybe even possible that the added attention the store garnered from its frequent mentions in Broad City could have led to this change in policy. Maybe! And while there’s no news yet about an update in the coupon policy, clearly even Abbi and Ilana are starting to get worried that by talking about it too much, it might vanish as abruptly as the former returns policy. So, you know, shhhh… let’s all stop talking about BB&B so much, and just go stock up on giant three-wick candles while we can, because now that Ilana’s mentioned them, they’re sure to sell as fast as her much-coveted strappy, boob-cage LF bra did once it got positively identified.
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