Bed Bath & Beyond just opened its first new storefront since emerging from bankruptcy. The location? Not San Francisco. Not Los Angeles. Not anywhere in California, the largest economy in the country. It’s in Nashville. And according to Executive Chairman Marcus Lemonis, that’s no oversight. The company is steering clear of the state entirely.
“We will not open or operate retail stores in California,” Lemonis said. The problem isn’t politics, he insists, but the cost of doing business in a state where compliance costs more than construction, payroll is weighed down by legal risk, and navigating regulations takes longer than remodeling a store. “California has created one of the most overregulated, expensive, and risky environments for businesses in America. It’s a system that makes it harder to employ people, harder to keep doors open, and harder to deliver value to customers.”
That’s tough for retailers and devastating for California’s economic future. But if you ask Governor Gavin Newsom, the real issue is brand relevance. His office snubbed back on social media by mocking the company’s footprint: “After their bankruptcy and closure of every store, like most Americans, we thought Bed, Bath & Beyond no longer existed.” For a state losing both businesses and residents, this was a strange hill to troll from.
Of course, Bed Bath & Beyond isn’t the first to pull out, nor was it the most significant. But the symbolism is hard to miss. A national brand finds a second life and wants to invest. California not only doesn’t make the list, it’s strictly forbidden. When a state like California can’t even attract a home goods store, what chance does it have at revitalizing manufacturing or energy production?
Still, California hasn’t run out of people who believe in its potential. It hasn’t run out of reformers. In fact, some of the most tenacious defenders of economic opportunity, free enterprise, and limited government are working here, not waiting for permission from Sacramento. California Policy Center is a standout example.
“Gavin Newsom’s policies have driven hundreds of businesses – and hundreds of thousands of Californians – out of our state,” said Will Swaim, President of California Policy Center (CPC), an SPN Affiliate. “Instead of taking this chance to talk with Marcus Lemonis about how to make California a great place for business, workers and customers, Newsom, as ever, brings gasoline and matches – or maybe just matches: Thanks to the governor, Californians also pay the highest gas prices in the nation,” Swaim continued.
CPC isn’t pretending California’s problems will fix themselves. Its team is exposing the real cost of overregulation: soaring fuel taxes, dense layers of environmental mandates, and agencies making every new permit a bureaucratic gauntlet. They’ve shown how taxpayer dollars vanish under regulatory complexity while businesses and families flee the state. CPC has also called for immediate relief by suspending enforcement of costly energy laws and rolling back environmental surcharges that drive up prices and push refineries out of California.
That’s what durable reform looks like. CPC leaders have testified before Congress about how excessive regulation has turned manageable risks into catastrophic failures. They offer concrete solutions: ending frivolous lawsuits, limiting drawn-out legal proceedings, fast-tracking permits, and streamlining infrastructure approvals. In a state that seems more interested in halting growth than managing it, CPC is making sure someone is still fighting to get things built.
What’s encouraging isn’t just what CPC has done, but how. They’re part of a broader model gaining ground nationwide, one that SPN calls the Durable Freedom Infrastructure. It means building state-level institutions with the capacity to influence policy long after the headlines fade. No one is pretending the road ahead is easy. But durable doesn’t mean inflexible. It means prepared. The California Policy Center is prepared. They’re organizing, litigating, educating, and holding the line for the Californians who want something better than managed decline.
If California ever finds its way back to prosperity, it will be because organizations like CPC were already laying the foundation.