The long and tangled tale of the bankruptcy and liquidation of Bed Bath & Beyond and its specialty baby goods chain, Buy Buy Baby, has taken another twist.

The company that acquired the intellectual property rights for Buy Buy Baby, Somerset, New Jersey-based Dream on Me Industries, has successfully bid for the leases of 11 of the retailer's stores, with four of them located in the Garden State, according to bankruptcy court documents.

It was presumed that the Buy Buy Baby chain would be totally liquidated, like its Union, New Jersey-based parent Bed Bath Beyond, when a buyer wasn't found for it. But now at least one retail analyst said Dream on Me could be weighing keeping Buy Buy Baby's brick-and-mortar presence alive.

"Acquiring a small handful of leases seems odd, but it might be that Dream on Me wants to test the waters with stores to see if there is scope to build out a bigger physical presence," Neil Saunders, a managing director at research firm GlobalData, told CoStar News in an email. "Presumably, the stores are in good locations and the company could simply run with the existing Buy Buy Baby brand and proposition. If successful, it might be a springboard towards wider physical ambitions."

Dream on Me, which was a Buy Buy Baby supplier, didn't immediately return a phone call or email from CoStar News on Monday seeking comment.

When Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April, it said it had 360 namesake and 120 Buy Buy Baby stores. At this point following several auctions, overall there are 250 leases left for stores that are winding down going-out-of-business sales. If those leases are not sold via private sale by July 31, they will be rejected by the retailer so as not to incur any rent for August.

Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 hoping to survive and continue operations by finding a buyer for its namesake chain and for Buy Buy Baby, which was considered the company's crown jewel. But those efforts failed, and the leases for both chains were put up for sale at several auctions conducted by A&G Real Estate Partners. Bed Bath Beyond's and Buy Buy Baby's intellectual property rights also were sold.

In the case of Buy Buy Baby, Dream on Me paid $15.5 million for its IP rights, its trademark and digital rights. And Dream on Me bid just over $1 million for the 11 Buy Buy Baby leases last week, offers that are pending court approval. Four of those stores are in New Jersey, two are in New York and the remainders are in Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Virginia.

The stores are:

• 1445 New Britain Ave., West Hartford, Connecticut.
• 501 W. Main St., Newark, Delaware.
• 683 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
• 160 Granite St., Braintree, Massachusetts.
• 711 Route 28, Bridgewater, New Jersey.
• 1590 Kings Highway N, Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
• Route 17 North, Paramus, New Jersey.
• 675 Highway 1 S, Woodbridge, New Jersey.
• 1261 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst, New York.
• 1019 Central Park Ave., Scarsdale, New York.
• 6398 Springfield Plaza, Springfield, Virginia.

"If it doesn’t work out, it should be relatively easy for Dream on Me to unwind its store commitments," Saunders said. "In some ways this makes sense, because parents and those shopping for kids products often like visiting physical shops to see and learn about products."

If Dream on Me does keep those 11 sites as Buy Buy Baby stores, it will have some revived competition: Babies R Us, which opened a flagship store at the American Dream megamall in East Rutherford, New Jersey, last week.

In the auction conducted last week, first reported by CNBC, retailer Scandinavian Designs bid on Bed Bath & Beyond store leases in Clearwater and Brandon, Florida; Meridian, Idaho; and Bend, Oregon. The retailer also bid on a Buy Buy Baby lease in Encinitas, California.

Michaels had a successful bid to acquire a Bed Bath & Beyond lease in Austin, Texas; Raymour & Flanigan bid on a Buy Buy Baby lease in Garden City East, New York; and Village Supemarket bid on a Bed Bath & Beyond site in Springfield, New Jersey.

Dream on Me products — such as cribs, mattresses and baby gear — are sold by retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Kohl's, Target and Wayfair. Its brands include Dream On Me, Evolur Baby, Sweetpea Baby, TailZzz, Hannah & Sophia, and Slumber Baby.