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Originally Posted by bluedogok
I thought BB&B was just another outlet of Zales or another one of those conglomerates with 40 different store names...or did they just shut down that moniker?
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Yeah, sort of.
BB&B was owned by Zales until 2007 or 2008, when a company named Finlay Fine Jewelry purchased them. Finlay operated several stand-alone jewelry chains and a bunch of department store fine jewelry departments, including at Macy's.
As part of Macy's ongoing rebranding and nationwide "One Macy's" program, they decided not to renew Finlay's contract with them. Thus Finlay was thrown into turmoil and faced the prospect of not being able to make the payments on the gigantic loan they took out to buy BB&B.
I worked for Finlay in a Macy's jewelry department until July - I now work for Macy's, still in fine jewelry. Finlay went into bankruptcy in September. I believe all of their brands are gone by now. (They also operated Carlyle & Co., J.E. Caldwell & Co., and Park Promenade.)