Yes, it's true, Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) wouldn't let me take a picture of its jam-packed store near Fenway Park in Boston. I wanted to tweet it to show people who are betting against the company, and argue that this tact might be wrong given its strong back-to-school numbers -- including in this particular location.
But an impolite woman wouldn't let me take it, and didn't care that I said I wanted to show how crowded it was and how many people are buying goods. She simply said I wasn't allowed to do it.
I found this amazing. Clearly there is nothing secret about the store. Anyone can go into it. So what if I show the picture to the Twitterati?
But what really amazed me was something that happened 20 years ago: I watched the implosion of Gantos, one of my best short plays, simply by watching the stores and seeing no one was buying anything.
That short position was a home run.
Since then, I have always been sensitive to the register factor. Bed Bath & Beyond has it, positively.
But they don't want it known.
Or at least this woman didn't.
What a stupid rule.
