Bed Bath & Beyond poised to join the list of 'zombie brands' like Radio Shack and Toys R Us

• Bed Bath & Beyond has reached a deal to sell its primary brand assets to Overstock for $21.5 million.
• The agreement covers trademarks, business data, and e-commerce sites, but not stores or inventory.
• The sale will make the former housewares giant the latest retail "zombie brand."

Bed Bath & Beyond will live on — in name at least — following a $21.5 million deal with Overstock.com to purchase the iconic houseware giant's brand assets.

Overstock's bid covers trademarks, internal business data, and e-commerce platforms, including websites and mobile apps, for the flagship brand, per Thursday filings with US bankruptcy court in New Jersey. A final approval hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

The deal does not cover any physical stores or inventory, but specifies that future orders from suppliers must meet or exceed the quality of goods sold by Bed Bath & Beyond in the prior twelve months.

The filings also prohibit Bed Bath & Beyond from saying the company is "going out of business" as it continues to liquidate inventory and vacate stores. The company previously said all locations will be closed by June 30.

A separate auction is slated next week for the BuyBuy Baby subsidiary, which analysts anticipate could be spun off into an ongoing brick-and-mortar operation.

The survival of Bed Bath & Beyond on paper and online will make it the latest retail "zombie brand" — a list that includes former industry titans like Radio Shack, Lord & Taylor, and Toys R Us, whose new owners aim to cash in on the label's established credibility with customers.

For Overstock, an online-only discount retailer of home furnishings, the acquisition follows a multi-year strategy of courting both vendors and customers away from Bed Bath & Beyond, per the New York Times.