Buybuy Baby to Close All Storefronts By End of the Year

Looks like we'll be saying goodbye to Buybuy Baby physical store locations across the country before the end of the year. The major U.S. retail chain that sells all things regarding your babies and toddlers announced they will be closing all of their stores and moving to a new format, online only.

Buybuy Baby was founded by Richard and Jeffrey Feinstein in 1996. The brothers are the sons of Bed Bath & Beyond co-founder, Leonard Feinstein. Their first location opened in Maryland and continued to grow from there across the country.

The retailer confirmed that the remaining 10 stores left open will be closed by the end of the year. They announced this information on their website and stated that they would be chasing a new path forward. "We're transforming into a digital-first brand, focusing all our energy on providing an exceptional online shopping experience. This decision comes after listening closely to our incredible customers, and our valued partners. Their feedback has been invaluable in shaping this new chapter," said the company on its website regarding the closures."

In order to help with the transition and get rid of all items in store, they announced a major sale would take place in order to get rid of items at their physical locations. "To ease the transition, we're offering significant discounts on almost everything in-store starting October 18, 2024. This is a great chance to stock up on favored items, while supplies last, and say goodbye to our buybuy BABY stores."

The retail chain has already begun closing stores before, but this comes after the parent company, Bed Bath & Beyond, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2023. Things began to go downward from there due to a lack of sales and in-person shopping that once was a priority for many.

In need of baby clothes and/or anything baby-related? If you're looking for some good deals, then you should see where the closest location near you or visit their website.

For many parents, naming a child can become a stressful process. Perhaps, it's the pressure of giving a tiny human a name they will have for their entire life. Some families name their kids after a family member, someone famous, fictional characters, or sometimes something that reminds them of a sweet memory. Parents have the right to choose a child's name. However, that responsibility comes with a few restrictions.

Some states have naming laws and restrictions that define whether new parents are allowed to choose a certain name for their baby or not. According to USBirthCertificates.com, a vital records application preparation assistance service, certain states have other kinds of naming restrictions in place to protect children. This includes banning the use of obscenity in names.

Several states limit the number of characters that can be used in a name because of official birth records software used in the U.S. Apparently, in Nebraska first, middle and last names must be less than 100 characters total.

While other states go as far as banning the use of numerical digits or emojis. For example, Massachusetts only allow letters found on the standard English keyboard to be used in baby names. There are also states who prohibit naming children after people who have committed heinous crimes. We don't know why anyone would, but this means you can’t name your child "Adolf Hitler."

Many of the common naming restrictions include derogatory terms, obscenity, offensive names, numbers, and certain characters like asterisks. However, there are celebrities like Grimes and Elon Musk who didn’t let their states restrictions stop them from naming their kids Exa Dark Sideræl referred to as "Y" and  X Æ A-XII, nicknamed "X."

If you are in the "naming" process, you should become familiar with the restrictions set in place by each state to avoid birth certificate surprises.

In 2013, a child support magistrate in East Tennessee ruled that a 7-month-old boy named Messiah must have his name changed to Martin. "The word 'Messiah' is a title, and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person, and that one person is Jesus Christ," said  Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew.

In 2009, New Jersey parents Heath and Deborah Campbell were taken into state custody after authorities got involved in a cake incident. A bakery refused to decorate a cake with the words "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler." The Campbell’s gave their three children Nazi-inspired names including Adolf Hitler . Though the state said that their names were not the reason, it's been reported that the parents didn't believe them.

In 2018, Elizabeth Handy and Bilal Walk of Georgia sued their home state after officials refused to let them name their daughter ZalyKha Graceful Lorraina Allah. The issue was Allah, the two-year-old girl's last name. Georgia law requires that children bear the last name of at least one of their parents. The parents won the case, with the help of lawyers from the ACLU.

In 1976, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that short-order cook and high school teacher Michael Herbert Dengler could not change his name to "1069."

In December 1999, Robert William Handley of Ohio filed a petition to change his name to Santa Robert Claus. Judge Lawrence Belskis denied his petition saying that "the public has a proprietary interest, a proprietary right in the identity of Santa Claus, both in the name and the persona."

A 1984 ruling from the California Courts of Appeal denied a request from Thomas Boyd Ritchie III to change his name to the Roman numeral "III," pronounced "Three." The court said that, "a change to a roman numeral did not constitute a name change within the meaning of the law and that the new 'name' used by appellant was inherently confusing."