Harbor Freight Tools eyes Bed Bath Beyond building

CEDAR RAPIDS — A major California-based tool company is considering opening a second store in Cedar Rapids in the building that formerly housed Bed Bath & Beyond.

City records show Harbor Freight Tools has filed three sign permits for the former Bed Bath & Beyond site at 4840 First Ave. NE.

Though Harbor Freight declined to confirm that site, “we are actively looking to open a new location” in Cedar Rapids, Craig Hoffman, the company’s director of corporate communications, told The Gazette.

Harbor Freight opened its first discount tool store in Cedar Rapids in 2007 at 3750 Williams Blvd. SW, a former Target building.

Bed Bath & Beyond, when it entered bankruptcy, closed its Cedar Rapids store in early 2023, as well as its stores in Coralville, Davenport and Sioux City, leaving open only its store in Clive.

Harbor Freight Tools, headquartered in Calabasas, Calif., has more than 1,400 stores in 48 states, including 15 in Iowa. The company was founded in 1977 by Eric Smidt, now the private company’s CEO, and his father, Alan Smidt. They opened their first store in North Hollywood, Calif.

The company now has around 26,000 employees and opened a 1.5-million-square-foot distribution center in Joliet, Ill., in 2022.