Belk or Bed Bath and Beyond

reppunzel · January 2013

I'm interested in your thoughts on the relative merits of Belk vs. Bed Bath and Beyond for registering.

To be honest, FI and I both dislike shopping at BBB (he loathes it). The way the stores are set up is horrible -- the aisles are so narrow you can barely get a cart through and when we finally went there this week, I was almost afraid to turn around in the dish/glassware section for fear I'd knock something off the shelf. I've also not had good experiences shopping off of registries there: even the salespeople had a hard time finding the items listed, and in one case, they not only didn't have the item in store (although it should have been there according to their website), but they couldn't even show me a picture of what I was buying (a friend and I were going in together on it, so I couldn't just pick something else). A few months after the wedding, I was visiting the bride and said, "oh, those are neat placemats" ... she kinda grinned at me and said, "um, thanks: you gave them to us!" A.w.k.w.a.r.d!

BUT, other people seem to really be fans, and among the people I know it seems to be the preferred place to shop for weddings. And they do have some things that we like, in particular, a LOT in their Everyday White dishes/serving collection that we can mix-and-match with our dinnerware. Belk has our dinnerware, sheets and a few other things (haven't picked pots and pans yet).

We were initially planning to register at Belks and put the BBB items onto our Amazon registry. Now I'm beginning to wonder whether I should do it the other way around and register at BBB ... despite my dislike for their stores ... and put the Belk items on Amazon.

95+% of our guest list has easy access to either store.

Thoughts? Experiences? Input? All would be much appreciated!

hoffse · January 2013

Well my initial instinct was to say BBB until you mentioned that 95% of your guests have easy access to both. Belk is a southern chain, and that's why we didn't register there - we have a lot of guests coming from California and the Wisconsin/Minnesota/N. Dakota area so we went with Macy's instead. That said... I'm like you and vastly prefer Belk over BBB.

The one and (in my opinion) only thing BBB has going for it are the coupons. But Belk has ridiculous sales, and they have the free shipping deal over a certain amount. Plus BBB's coupons excludes many popular brands (waterford, kate spade, all clad, zwilling, etc.) so they aren't that useful unless you are buying cuisinart or calphalon.

I have a lot of friends with primarily southern guestlists and they usually register at both. I would say that Belk is by far the more popular option. Everybody I know likes to shop there, the prices are good, and the customer service is good. It's also the classic "department store" model that BBB has moved away from.

I will also say this. I registered at BBB at first and hated the experience so much FI and I actually deleted our registry. The consultant actually added entire lines of expensive things on our registry after we explicitly told him we didn't need them or want that brand. It was easy to fix online, but it left such a bad taste in my mouth we decided to delete and go with Amazon for small gadgets, bakeware, etc.

I found that Amazon also sells a lot of brands BBB doesn't carry, and with their rating system it's easy to immediately see which products are quality. BBB requires you to click through multiple screens to get there, and that takes time. I really think that brides and grooms should research the products they are listing so that their guests don't spend hard earned money on something so cheap it gets tossed within a year.

As for white dinnerware... FI and I (really I) spent ages looking at white dinnerware all over the place. I went to all the stores, looked at it in person, felt it, etc. My personal opinion is that BBB's everyday white brand is the poorest quality of those I felt. The glazing isn't very consistent, and the plates and bowls are often uneven in term of thickness, etc. It IS dirt cheap so in a pinch it works, but I would personally register for something else. Good brands: pottery barn, williams sonoma (both a bit spendy), crate & barrel (much less expensive), and virtually every department store sells their own in-house brand of white dinnerware. I can't speak to Belk's but I know Macy's sells charter club which is porcelain, and hotel collection which is bone china (and more modern). They also sell a pattern by Gorham called "Breckenridge" which is bone china and just standard plain white. Wedgwood also makes a couple plain white patterns with different shapes. Bone china is stronger than porcelain and will last you years without a chip or scratch.

Finally, and sorry this is long, I am probably in the minority on this. A lot of brides love BBB. I just think that if you hate it, your FI hates it, and your guests can all shop at Belk that's what I would choose. Registering should be fun, and there's no need to deal with stores you dislike in the process.

firsttimersluck · January 2013

We had an easy time registering at BBB. No one bothered us the entire time we were registering and people appreciated the easy access to it. We also registered at Macy's, but Fi's family is from northern GA so they didn't have access to one. (although, ultimately people are just going to order offline so it doesn't matter a CRAZY amount either way).

I will admit that while I enjoyed registering at Macy's more, BBB has such a great return policy that I'm thankful we registered there. Our coffee pot just broke on us and it was a gift from our wedding last year. They said we don't need the box/recept/registery proof/ etc, just bring in the thing and they'll swap it out no problem. This is not the first time I have experienced this with them either. Great policy.

I am from Washington state so I had never heard of Belk until my Fi took me to one, but if you just registered there, I would buy online. I think you're safe either way.. but it couldn't hurt to register at both. Why register on Amazon? Just do Belk and BBB...

reppunzel · January 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_belk-or-bed-bath-and-beyond?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:7534b729-ceec-484c-b476-f003e2dd4d43Post:6a15bdbe-0719-4235-b16e-2c1f31dfe0ea">Re: Belk or Bed Bath and Beyond</a>:
[QUOTE] ... I am from Washington state so I had never heard of Belk until my Fi took me to one, but if you just registered there, I would buy online. I think you're safe either way.. but it couldn't hurt to register at both. <strong>Why register on Amazon? Just do Belk and BBB... </strong>
Posted by firsttimersluck[/QUOTE]

Thank you for all the responses, and I would love to hear from anyone else!

We're doing Amazon as one of our registries for several reasons: 1.) there are some things on their own site that we would like, 2.) friends and family who use Amazon a <strong>lot</strong>, 3.) the free shipping over $25 (more important for some items -- like cast iron -- than others) and 4.) because we've both lived on our own for a while and are registering more to fill in gaps than to outfit an entire house, their universal registry option makes for a nice "catch all." We can add a few things from this or that store (even, Costco, for example, which we don't have here), and guests can either order online or visit the physical location if they want.

reppunzel · January 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_belk-or-bed-bath-and-beyond?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:7534b729-ceec-484c-b476-f003e2dd4d43Post:62826260-3c68-4e91-8e14-eb28459c60ca">Re: Belk or Bed Bath and Beyond</a>:
[QUOTE]... As for white dinnerware... FI and I (really I) spent ages looking at white dinnerware all over the place. I went to all the stores, looked at it in person, felt it, etc. My personal opinion is that BBB's everyday white brand is the poorest quality of those I felt. The glazing isn't very consistent, and the plates and bowls are often uneven in term of thickness, etc. It IS dirt cheap so in a pinch it works, but I would personally register for something else. Good brands: pottery barn, williams sonoma (both a bit spendy), crate & barrel (much less expensive), and virtually every department store sells their own in-house brand of white dinnerware. I can't speak to Belk's but I know Macy's sells charter club which is porcelain, and hotel collection which is bone china (and more modern). They also sell a pattern by Gorham called "Breckenridge" which is bone china and just standard plain white. Wedgwood also makes a couple plain white patterns with different shapes. Bone china is stronger than porcelain and will last you years without a chip or scratch.
Posted by hoffse[/QUOTE]

Thank you so much for your feedback, especially on the white dinnerware. This is kind of a weird question, but when you looked at the whites at different stores, did you find that they were pretty much all the same shade of white? If you were to mix and match pieces from different collections would they blend with each other? For example, we bought a small piece from BBB to take over to Belk to compare, and those two sets were the same white. I'm interested in looking at the ones you mentioned from Crate and Barrel, but we don't have a store here, so I'd have to look online.

Fancypantsamy · January 2013

I don't really know much about white dinnerware (I'm a fiesta gal myself) but I do know that a good friend of mine only registered at BBB and amazon, and kept a large portion of her registry on Amazon. Once her BBB registry was completed (before the shower) people started buying her gift cards to BBB. She ended up with $500+ worth of gift cards. She already had a vacuum and stand mixer and everything had been bought off her registry, so she was a bit at a loss for what to use those gift cards on. If I were you, I'd register at Belk instead just incase you end up with an excessive amount of store credit too... at least you could buy clothes with the gift cards.

reppunzel · January 2013

Ah, good point Amy! And, from what I've seen at area showers, we're more likely to be given BBB gift cards than Belk ones (so it might make more sense to register at Belk and put the BBB things on Amazon).

hoffse · January 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_belk-or-bed-bath-and-beyond?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:7534b729-ceec-484c-b476-f003e2dd4d43Post:1718f66c-3c38-4108-849c-6f762cb02e43">Re: Belk or Bed Bath and Beyond</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Belk or Bed Bath and Beyond : Thank you so much for your feedback, especially on the white dinnerware. This is kind of a weird question, but when you looked at the whites at different stores, did you find that they were pretty much all the same shade of white? If you were to mix and match pieces from different collections would they blend with each other? For example, we bought a small piece from BBB to take over to Belk to compare, and those two sets were the same white. I'm interested in looking at the ones you mentioned from Crate and Barrel, but we don't have a store here, so I'd have to look online.
Posted by reppunzel[/QUOTE]

<div>Generally (and I use this word loosely) porcelain is the same shade as other porcelain and bone china is the same shade as other bone china. But porcelain and bone china are not the same shade as each other. Porcelain is more of a stark, paper white and bone china is a milk white or what my mom calls "candlelight white."</div><div>
</div><div>All that said, it's never 100% certain until you put them against one another. You will have slightly better luck matching porcelains because it is naturally a white clay. I have seen bone china shades differ modestly when comparing, but it's still pretty consistent. The biggest difference I have seen was between the white bone china line through BBB ("Nevaeh" or something like that) compared to bone china lines from manufacturers like Wedgwood or Lenox. BBB's line is a different color, and I have no idea why. Wedgwood, Lenox, Waterford, etc. all match. You will have MUCH better luck matching either porcelain or bone china than you will matching stoneware. Stoneware is naturally brown and they glaze it white (or other colors). So to match that depends entirely on the shade of the glaze, not the shade of the clay. Glazes come in hundreds of colors.</div><div>
</div>

Cackle6 · January 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_belk-or-bed-bath-and-beyond?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:7534b729-ceec-484c-b476-f003e2dd4d43Post:06349320-d78d-45d6-9312-96c6b1829f43">Re: Belk or Bed Bath and Beyond</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Belk or Bed Bath and Beyond : The biggest difference I have seen was between the white bone china line through BBB ("Nevaeh" or something like that) compared to bone china lines from manufacturers like Wedgwood or Lenox. BBB's line is a different color, and I have no idea why. Wedgwood, Lenox, Waterford, etc. all match.
Posted by hoffse[/QUOTE]

<div>Our Lenox china pattern matches the Nevaeh china accent pieces we got to supplement our china. And when we were picking it out, the consultant mixed in the Neveah to show us that we could supplement with it, and it matched the other 3 patterns we had been looking at as well.</div><div>
</div><div>I had a wonderful experience registering at BBB, and am thankful for their return policy since I changed my mind on a few things after receiving them. I had such a terrible experience at Macy's that I deleted my registry. Just based on reading reviews on here, it really does seem to differ based on store location and the employees in that store.</div>

hoffse · January 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_belk-or-bed-bath-and-beyond?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:7534b729-ceec-484c-b476-f003e2dd4d43Post:52d8dac9-accd-42d0-b562-840bb61d3561">Re: Belk or Bed Bath and Beyond</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Belk or Bed Bath and Beyond : Our Lenox china pattern matches the Nevaeh china accent pieces we got to supplement our china. And when we were picking it out, the consultant mixed in the Neveah to show us that we could supplement with it, and it matched the other 3 patterns we had been looking at as well. I had a wonderful experience registering at BBB, and am thankful for their return policy since I changed my mind on a few things after receiving them. I had such a terrible experience at Macy's that I deleted my registry. Just based on reading reviews on here, it really does seem to differ based on store location and the employees in that store.
Posted by Cackle6[/QUOTE]

<div>In that case, OP should compare them in-person. The ones I compared were a different shade. Could be that they have changed things up, or could be that it's an inconsistent pattern.</div>

LDubHawksFan · January 2013

I was really resistant to BBB at first, but we ended up registering there because of the coupons and there were stores everywhere. Even though they tend to have a lot of Made in China stuff that my H & I try to avoid, they have more nicer kitchenware and dishware than I realized before registering. Also, I found out for a friend's registry the other day that you can go into a store, use a 20% coupon and get free shipping right to their door. My experiences ordering online, they still charged shipping. I wish I had known this for all my family for our wedding.

reppunzel · January 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_belk-or-bed-bath-and-beyond?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:7534b729-ceec-484c-b476-f003e2dd4d43Post:06349320-d78d-45d6-9312-96c6b1829f43">Re: Belk or Bed Bath and Beyond</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Belk or Bed Bath and Beyond : Generally (and I use this word loosely) porcelain is the same shade as other porcelain and bone china is the same shade as other bone china. But porcelain and bone china are not the same shade as each other. Porcelain is more of a stark, paper white and bone china is a milk white or what my mom calls "candlelight white." All that said, it's never 100% certain until you put them against one another. You will have slightly better luck matching porcelains because it is naturally a white clay. I have seen bone china shades differ modestly when comparing, but it's still pretty consistent. The biggest difference I have seen was between the white bone china line through BBB ("Nevaeh" or something like that) compared to bone china lines from manufacturers like Wedgwood or Lenox. BBB's line is a different color, and I have no idea why. Wedgwood, Lenox, Waterford, etc. all match. You will have MUCH better luck matching either porcelain or bone china than you will matching stoneware. Stoneware is naturally brown and they glaze it white (or other colors). So to match that depends entirely on the shade of the glaze, not the shade of the clay. Glazes come in hundreds of colors.
Posted by hoffse[/QUOTE]

Thank you so much! This is exactly what I needed to know. I had hoped that keeping to the same material would help; we're currently leaning toward porcelain (that's what the Belk dishes are), but also looking at bone china.

Thank you <u>all</u> for your feedback. This is really, really helpful.

Callie22589 · January 2013

I registered at both BBB and Belk. We had registered at Belk simply because it is the only department store in my hometown so it was convenient to some of my guests (also because of their china).

However, I had some issues with my Belk registry. We had a big problem with things not being taken off, when they were scanned at purchase. We also had a big problem with some things not being in stock and all of that. Be aware that, if you choose to have a friends and family store, that does not mean that store will carry things you have. At one point in time, my friends and family store(the one in my hometown) did not have a piece of my china in stock and told the guests they would just have to drive to another store (closest is 25 minutes away). I spoke with customer service on several of the issues that I had and they were helpful for the most part, but there wasn't really anything they could do.

One BIG thing about Belk is that they have completion weekends where you get a good percentage off even the expensive brands. Be aware that coupons normally don't work on clearance and many sale items there.

I think both have their perks which is why we registered at both!

reppunzel · January 2013

I was a bit concerned about Belk's customer service, Retread. I was in one (there are several in the area) and asked about a bridal registry (at a counter only a few yards from the computer kiosk) and got "yeah, you can register here" and then she turned back to chatting with her co-worker. The co-worker at least smiled at me and asked when the wedding was ... but neither seemed at all invested. (Not that I expect the whole world to dance with joy that we're getting married, but you'd think they'd be interested in selling stuff to us.)

Decisions, decisions. Thanks for all the helpful comments!

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