After pausing uncertainly at the doors, a woman walked in and asked, “Are you open?”

With a smile, Jonah Raskas replied, “Yes! Welcome back!”

It’s a Monday in late September and Raskas, the new owner and chief executive officer of Harmon, is busy preparing for the grand reopening of the chain’s store in West Caldwell. After purchasing the brand’s intellectual property rights in August 2023 from Bed Bath & Beyond, the 39-year-old New York-based investor plans to reboot five stores in the tri-state area and potentially more down the line.

About three weeks ahead of the Sept. 27 ribbon cutting in Essex County, Raskas did a soft opening reintroducing the discount beauty, health and cosmetics retailer to the community.

But for the handful of shoppers wandering the aisles this particular afternoon, it didn’t take much to reacquaint themselves with the beloved chain. Much of the store remains the same, selling soap, makeup, haircare and skincare products from big brand names and Harmon‘s private labels (Face Values, Core Values and Smart Values).

Although Harmon’s shelves feature a lot of the same items as CVS and Walgreens, it earned a cult-like following for its wide assortment, low prices and travel-sized products collection.

The Clinton Road location – which served the community for more than three decades – was among the 50-plus Harmon stores that shuttered last year as part of its parent company Bed Bath & Beyond’s attempts to stay afloat financially. While most Harmon outposts were in New Jersey and New York, the retailer’s footprint extended into California, Connecticut, Florida and Nevada.

After Union-headquartered Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy in April 2023 and decided to auction off Harmon’s intellectual property rights, Raskas saw an opportunity.

“When Harmon was very quickly and abruptly shut down, I became curious. I had an initial thesis that Harmon was a healthy business that was part of a larger conglomerate that was having issues,” said Raskas, who described himself and his wife’s family as longtime shoppers of the chain.

“When I started to focus on due diligence between conversations with former leaders and with the conversations across the Bed Bath family and when I started looking into the financials, I found that sure enough it was a very healthy business for a very long time,” he said.

“For all those reasons I said, ‘You know what? This could be really exciting and would be exciting for myself, my family, and also for all of the many thousands of diehard Harmon enthusiasts which are out there and are really excited,” he said.

After winning bankruptcy court approval to purchase Harmon’s assets for $300,000, Raskas said he felt “really excited” because “it’s rare for there to be comeback story.”

“And it’s rare for a comeback story to focus on a brand that has always been doing well. So, it’s a unique, once in a lifetime opportunity to work on something and bring back something that is so popular, was so loved and is so loved,” he said.

With professional experience that includes serving as a brand manager at GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer health care spinoff Haleon and an investment background, Raskas believes he’s in a good position to bring Harmon back.

And it’s rare for a comeback story to focus on a brand that has always been doing well. So, it’s a unique, once in a lifetime opportunity to work on something and bring back something that is so popular, was so loved and is so loved.
– Jonah Raskas, Harmon owner and CEO

At Haleon – which has its U.S. headquarters in Warren – Raskas said he managed a range of brands ranging from Advil to Excedrin and Gas-X.

“In that role, one of my favorite areas was coordinating and working closely with the sales teams, oftentimes visiting different retailers,” he said. “I enjoyed what I was doing at Haleon but I also really enjoyed speaking with and connecting with different retail opportunities. That partially led to this opportunity [Harmon].

“And previously I have a background in banking capital markets. What that means is helping companies go public, raise capital through different types of transactions,” he said. “As an example, I helped take Wag! Public … It is a one-stop shop pet opportunity on an app that provides anything and everything, from dog walking to pet insurance to chats with vets. I’m an advisor to that company to this day.”

Welcome back

According to Raskas, five of the chain’s best performing locations in New Jersey and New York will reopen during the first year. After that, the company will look “to continue to expand each year,” he said.

The reboot began about three months ago, when he turned the lights back on at Harmon’s old store in New Rochelle, N.Y. After reopening West Caldwell, Raskas will soon add another location on South Avenue in Garwood.

When it came to determining where to reopen, Raskas said, “We just looked at where historically Harmon has always been successful because we have all that data. That made it really straightforward.”

Raskas said, “We’re already working on the additional stores and we are having a lot of ongoing real estate-based conversations just to make sure that we have those next best sites ready to go so we can keep going on this pathway where it’s one, two, three and then four and five quickly thereafter. And I can’t say just yet exactly where four and five are going to be, but it’s going to be across the New York and New Jersey area.”

Harmon – which was founded in 1971 and became a Bed Bath & Beyond subsidiary only 22 years ago – was also able to bring back some former employees, according to Raskas.

“It’s a beloved brand by customers and employees,” he said. “People had always loved working for the company. As a result, when discussions started about rejoining, the majority did.”

“If I had to choose one word to describe reopening, it would be happiness. There’s been incredible amounts of smiles and hugs between our returning staff and customers,” he said. “One customer even brought a bouquet of flowers for our assistant manager in New Rochelle. We’re also getting a lot of people saying, ‘Hey, I’m so excited you’re back again.’”

During the soft launch in West Caldwell, Raskas said there’s been similar reactions. “Primarily joy, happiness and usually, ‘I’m so happy you’re back,’” he said.

Email inquiries from customers about current or future stores also helps the brand “look at and focus on where we want to go next,” he said. Along with feedback about locations, Raskas said Harmon has received quite a bit of “fan mail.”

“To say that I am beyond excited is an understatement,” one customer wrote. “Harmon was always one of my go-to stores for all things beauty related.” Another thanked Raskas for “saving the Harmon experience” and expressed how excited she was for the reopening.

A longtime shopper wrote, “My daughter and I were talking about how much we missed Harmon … I was so happy to see that you will be reopening it!”

As it was

When customers return to Harmon, Raskas said it’ll be “almost identical to what it previously was.”

“We wanted people to have that experience because it worked. If it’s not broken, don’t try to fix something,” he explained.

While the West Caldwell store is located about a quarter of a mile away from Walgreens and CVS, Raskas doesn’t consider them to be competitors. At Harmon, there’s a “clear vision and purpose,” which is offering products that are unique and at a better value, he said. “We want to give more bang for your buck.”

During the 15 months that Harmon was closed following its liquidation, big drugstore chains like CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid have undergone several rounds of closures. The moves to shrink their retail footprint come as more consumers go online to fill prescriptions, as well as to buy items like candy and greeting cards.

Besides being more “value-centered,” Harmon’s assortment of products is bigger and more differentiated than what you’ll find at a retail pharmacy. For example, its haircare lineup ranges from everyday brands, like Revlon to salon quality items, such as Biolage.

Some updates are being made to the shopping experience at Harmon. Raskas said, “We added in more value opportunities with inflation and with the cost of goods and everything rising. We’ve also added in a lot more value opportunities where we are priced the best in the market or maybe sometimes the second best in the market with a whole range of different areas.”

Along the back wall of the West Caldwell store, there’s a new revolving section that highlights “the best products for the best prices,” he said.

When NJBIZ visited, the spotlighted items: A 4-ounce tube of Colgate Sparkling White toothpaste for $1.29 (a savings of 70 cents compared to market value); a 3.4-ounce tube of Sensodyne toothpaste for $3.97 (a savings of $2.02 compared to market pricing); a 16-ounce bottle of Dial body wash for $2.97 (a savings of $1.03 compared to market pricing); a 13.5-ounce bottle of Axe body wash for $2.99 (a savings of 98 cents compared to market pricing); a 34-ounce container of Dove body wash for $7.97 (a savings of $2.02 compared to market pricing).

While Harmon has always been known for its focus on value, Raskas said they wanted to double down on showcasing it “because of the period of time we’ve been in.”

“Even despite inflation coming down, the prices for a whole range of different categories ranging from deodorant to feminine care … are particularly high priced and particularly prone to incredible price increases,” he explained. “… We are really focused on providing as much value in a few different categories and across different areas of the store as possible.”

There’s also a greater push into digital. “Harmon was a beloved physical shopping experience and there’s still so many people out there that want to touch, feel and see the different sizes or see the different shades of cosmetics or nail care,” Raskas said.

“Very often, customers will describe Harmon as a place where they could get everything. It’s beauty, wellness, OTC, travel trial needs, professional haircare, everyday haircare, everyday face care and skin care,” he said. “You can get everything done in a one-stop shop.

“That being said, we will lean into more online offerings and also membership programs,” Raskas went on.

“Toward the end of its life, Harmon had a membership program, which is something we relaunched. And we’re offering a lot of exciting opportunities for that. As an example, a popular item in store has historically been a Chi hair styling iron. For everyday customers, it’s priced at $69.99. But for our members – what we call our VIP program – it’s priced at $59.99,” he said. “That’s a significant savings and the price to join is just $10 a year.”

Additionally, the offering will link with Harmon’s e-commerce experience, which recently kicked off with one category – women’s and men’s haircare products. “We’re going to keep expanding our categories and our product assortment over time,” Raskas said. “And there’ll be connections between in-store and online because we’re in an omnichannel world. So, that is something we’re actively focused and working on at the same time.

“The stores have always been the bread and butter and the main focus, and they’ll continue to be so, while at the same time we optimize and enhance and increase our omnichannel focus,” he explained.

Looking ahead, Raskas said Harmon will also try to bring in some fresh on-site offerings, like a beautician who does a range of services, like mini makeovers and eyebrow shaping. “Historically, that has never really been done here and that moves us a little bit more into experiential and into the year 2024 and 2025,” Raskas said. “We really mostly kept it almost entirely the same, and we’ll continue to tweak and further enhance it as we go on.”

As for the biggest challenges of bringing back the brand, Raskas said rebuilding processes and the team have been “the hardest.”

“But also, the most exciting and the most fun as well because it enabled us to be more nimble, more flexible, quicker and do things differently than has been done in the past while at the same time delivering the same great Harmon experience,” he said

Hey, baby

Meanwhile, Bed Bath & Beyond’s baby-focused banner Buybuy Baby is also attempting a rebirth. After acquiring the brand’s intellectual property rights for $15.5 million, Piscataway-based baby goods retailer Dream On Me Inc. had reopened 11 of the 115 stores that closed in the wake of Bed Bath & Beyond’s bankruptcy.

To help lead the effort to reposition the brand, Dream On Me tapped a former Bed Bath & Beyond executive who is familiar with Buybuy Baby – Glen Cary. During his nearly two-decade career with Bed Bath & Beyond, Cary spent 14 years with Buybuy Baby, helping grow the business from eight stores in the New York metropolitan area to a chain with over 100 locations across the U.S. and Canada.

Pete Daledien, a former Bed Bath & Beyond executive who spent three of his 16 years with the company as a vice president of merchandising, planning & allocation for Buybuy Baby is leading the new venture.

Following the publication of this story in the print issue of NJBIZ, Buybuy Baby announced Oct. 18 it was closing all its brick-and-mortar stores to focus on ecommerce.

Even as Bed Bath & Beyond struggled in recent years with slowing sales, low inventory levels and competition from big box chains, Buybuy Baby’s performance remained strong, with an estimated market value of $1.3 billion as of April 2022.

Regaining its mantle as the preferred shopping destination for all things baby hasn’t been easy. After the chain’s e-commerce site and locations were liquidated and closed last summer, Buybuy Baby began staging a comeback.

Buybuy Baby’s return followed a similarly speedy comeback by Bed Bath & Beyond. After winning the home goods retailer’s IP auction in June 2023 for $21.5 million, Overstock.com relaunched the brand two months later with a refreshed website and mobile app where shoppers can purchase home décor, furniture, bedding and kitchenware.