It had been a busy but successful holiday season at the Harmon Face Values store in Morris Plains, N.J.The location performed well enough to win a contest among the entire health and beauty chain’s stores involving sales of appliances like blow dryers and electronic toothbrushes. Jenny Bonard, the manager, was looking forward to a visit from the district manager and Harmon’s head of merchandising to discuss upgrades to the store. She hoped that additional lights would be added, helping to illuminate the shelves and enticing shoppers to spend more.Instead, on Jan. 26, after a brief conference call in which executives from Bed Bath & Beyond, Harmon’s parent company since 2002, shared their decision to liquidate all 49 of the chain’s stores, Ms. …
