Bed Bath & Beyond shoppers in Inland Empire left confused over coupon, final sale timeline

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- After Bed Bath & Beyond announced it filed for bankruptcy protection, many people expected big liquidation sales - but that's not the case.

Apparently, different stores offer different discounts and shoppers quickly learned that.

The nationwide chain made the bankruptcy announcement over the weekend and said Tuesday was the final day for shoppers to use their famous 20% off coupons in its stores. Wednesday, the retailer transitioned to discount sales of leftover merchandise.

READ ALSO | Here's how long you have to use Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons after chain's bankruptcy

However, at Bed Bath & Beyond store in Riverside on Wednesday, at store manager told customers there would be no big sales but that those coupons were still valid, which came as a surprise to some shoppers.

So if you're looking to score some deals, just note that those sales may vary from store to store. Eyewitness News called the Bed Bath & Beyond store in Redlands on Wednesday, who said it's no longer accepting coupons anymore.

However, the store was offering 10% off everything. It was the same thing at the store in Rancho Cucamonga.

The nationwide retailer, founded in 1971, has said it will now begin closing its remaining 360 Bed Bath & Beyond stores and 120 buybuy Baby locations. Bed Bath & Beyond has already shuttered 400 stores over the past year. It's seeking to sell some, or all, of the business.

If it's able to find a buyer, Bed Bath & Beyond will halt store closings. But if one doesn't come forward, the company will likely be liquidated and go out of business.

It's unclear when the liquidation sales would begin and how deep the discounting might be coming days and weeks.

While its Big Blue 20% coupons are already obsolete, Bed Bath & Beyond has set May 8 as the cutoff date for customers to use up their gift cards, gift certificates and merchandise credit.

According to a CNN report, a store employee who didn't want to be named said he was told that, once products sold out, they would not be restocked.

Bed Bath & Beyond hasn't addressed the timing and level of liquidation discounts.

CNN contributed to this report.