Homeless encampment in West Los Angeles

Antonio Graceffo – The Gateway Pundit Aug 21, 2025

On August 20, 2025, Marcus Lemonis, Executive Chairman of Bed Bath & Beyond, announced that the company would not open or operate retail stores in California. “This decision isn’t about politics — it’s about reality,” he said.

Lemonis argued that California has become one of the most overregulated, expensive, and risky states for businesses. He cited high taxes, mandatory wages many employers cannot sustain, endless fees, and regulations that stifle growth. Even the state’s budget surpluses, he said, are built “on the backs of ordinary citizens” who already pay too much, while businesses are “squeezed until they break.”

Crime was another factor in his decision. In interviews, including on “The Big Money Show,” Lemonis pointed to years of rampant shoplifting and weak law enforcement, which left retailers “ravaged of their merchandise on a consistent basis.” Although voters reinstated felony penalties for shoplifting in 2024, he argued that the broader climate of lax enforcement, overregulation, and high costs still makes California unsustainable for brick-and-mortar operations.

As part of its reemergence after a 2022 bankruptcy, the company plans to open physical stores in nearly every state but California. Lemonis called the move a stand for common sense and sustainable business, stressing it was not political but practical, meant to protect customers, employees, and shareholders from a system that raises costs and stifles growth.

California customers will be served exclusively through BedBathandBeyond.com. While they can still buy the company’s products, the state will miss out on jobs, rent, equipment, and materials purchases. It will collect mainly sales taxes, with reduced income, business, or other related taxes. In effect, California has shot itself in the foot.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office hit back with a reply on X, writing, “After their bankruptcy and closure of every store, like most Americans, we thought Bed, Bath & Beyond no longer existed. We wish them well in their efforts to become relevant again as they try to open a 2nd store.”

Other retailers are following suit. Target, for example, closed more than half a dozen California locations in 2023, including three in the Bay Area, citing theft and threats to employees. California led the nation with over 50,000 reported shoplifting cases in 2024, a 12% increase from the previous year, and shoplifting rose 28% statewide from 2019 to 2023. In fact, 2023 saw the highest level of reported shoplifting since 1998.

The passage of Proposition 47 a decade ago, which downgraded certain thefts to misdemeanors, coincided with a surge in chronic offenders. The share of theft offenders who reoffended four or more times increased by 12 percentage points, while theft convictions among repeat offenders rose 14 points. Two years after Prop 47, the clearance rate for property crime fell by 3%, dropping further to just 7% in 2022, meaning offenders today are about half as likely to be apprehended as in 2014. Although voters reinstated felony penalties for shoplifting in 2024, retailers say the broader problem persists.

The retail industry has borne the brunt. Nationwide, theft cost businesses $112.1 billion, with 88% of retailers reporting shoplifters had become more aggressive. Among companies tracking organized retail crime (ORC), incidents surged 57% between 2022 and 2023, with ORC alone costing an average of $703,320 per $1 billion in sales. California saw a 69% increase in store closures from 2023 to 2024, with more than 7,100 closures projected by November, up from 5,548 the year before.

At the same time, California employers face some of the highest labor costs in the country. The statewide minimum wage rose to $16.50 per hour in 2025, more than double the federal level, while fast food workers are paid $20 an hour. Some cities impose even higher rates, such as Mountain View at $19.20 and El Cerrito at $18.34.

These rising costs coincide with a steep decline in labor participation among less-educated Californians: down 14.6% for those without a high school diploma and 10.4% for high school graduates without college since 2003.

Other costs add to the burden. Cyber insurance premiums jumped as much as 100% in 2023, though increases eased to 5.6% in 2024. Management liability coverage rose nearly 19% in 2023, followed by another 8% in 2024. Inflation continues to push claims costs higher, directly impacting premiums.

To cope, retailers are spending heavily on security, averaging $700 million annually on loss-prevention strategies. In 2023, three-quarters of retailers increased uniformed security officers in stores, and nearly 60% planned to add more in 2024.

It isn’t only retailers taking a stand. Several major corporations have issued similar statements or moved operations in response to California’s business climate. After 145 years in the state, Chevron announced it was relocating to Texas.

CEO Mike Wirth explained, “We believe California has a number of policies that raise costs, that hurt consumers, that discourage investment and ultimately… that’s not good for the economy in California and for consumers.” As early as 2019, Wirth had warned that the state’s policies had become “pretty restrictive on a lot of business fronts, not just the environment.”

Elon Musk has also criticized California for driving a corporate exodus, comparing the state to a once-successful sports team that has grown complacent: “You have a forest of redwoods and the little trees can’t grow.” In July, he said a law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on school notification policies was “the final straw” after years of measures that, in his view, attacked both families and companies.

Other high-profile companies that have relocated include Tesla, McKesson, Charles Schwab, CBRE, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Palantir, AECOM, FICO, SpaceX, and Oracle. A Hoover Institution report found that 74 corporate headquarters left California in the first half of 2021 alone, many citing affordability concerns.

Jim Wunderman, president of the Bay Area Council, called the departures “an embarrassment for California,” blaming “misguided policies that make it incredibly difficult to do business here.” He urged lawmakers to confront a “reckoning,” pointing to housing shortages, rising energy costs, and constant regulation.

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