Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Troubled Bed Bath & Beyond Announces Plans to Close 150 Stores
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
August 31, 2022

Share

 

Bed Bath & Beyond, which operates stores in Fresno, Visalia and Modesto, said Wednesday that it will shutter over 100 locations and lay off workers in a bid to turn around its beleaguered business.

The home goods retailer based in Union, New Jersey, said it will close about 150 of its namesakes stores and slash its workforce by 20%. It estimated those cuts would save $250 million in the company’s current fiscal year. It also said it is considering selling more of its stock to shore up its finances and had lined up more than $500 million of new financing.

But it will keep its buybuy Baby chain, which earlier this year it considered selling.

Bed Bath & Beyond’s stock fell more than 20% Wednesday and is down 65% in the last 12 months.

Mired in a prolonged sales slump, the company also announced it will revert to its original strategy of focusing on national brands, instead of pushing its own store labels. That reverses a strategy embraced by its former CEO Mark Tritton, who was ousted in June after less than three years at the helm.

“There’s still an incredible degree of love for Bed Bath & Beyond,” Mara Sirhal, the newly named brand president of Bed Bath & Beyond, told industry analysts Wednesday. “We must get back to our rightful place as the home-category destination, and our goal is to achieve this by leading with the products and brands our customers want.”

As of May, the retailer operated a total of 955 stores, including 769 Bed Bath & Beyond stores, 135 buybuy Baby stores and 51 stores under the names Harmon, Harmon Face Values or Face Values.

Time is of the essence for the company heading into the critical holiday shopping season. It said it expects a 26% decline in comparable sales for its fiscal second quarter. It burned through $325 million of cash in the quarter.

Sirhal said the retailer wants to get back to being a place where shoppers find innovative items. For example, Bed Bath & Beyond was the first to bring items like the air fryer and the single-serve coffee maker to its customers, she said.

Neil Sanders, managing director at GlobalData Retail, said he applauds the strategic shift. But he said that task is “easier said than done” and will require much closer relationships with suppliers to secure unique offerings.

“If Bed Bath & Beyond simply stocks the same sort of things as can be found at Target, Walmart, or Amazon, then it will struggle to differentiate and will find margins compressed as it needs to match on price, ” he said.

Bed Bath & Beyond has been facing lots of turbulence recently. Its shares made a monstrous run from $5.77 to $23.08 in a little more than two weeks this month, in trading reminiscent of last year’s meme-stock craze, when out-of-favor companies suddenly became darlings of smaller-pocketed investors.

But the shares fell back to earth after a deep-pocketed investor, activist Ryan Cohen, the billionaire co-founder of online pet-products retailer Chewy Inc., sold his entire stake i n the company. In March, Cohen had purchased a nearly 10% stake i n Bed Bath & Beyond, giving investors hope he could turn around the company’s finances.

The company said that it is still searching for a permanent CEO. Board member Sue Gove took over as interim CEO, replacing Tritton. Chief Operating Office John Hartmann is leaving the company, and it’s eliminating that position.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Tackles Animal Overpopulation with New Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Program

DON'T MISS

Fallen Crypto Mogul Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

DON'T MISS

Biden Administration to Lend $1.5B to Restart Michigan Nuclear Power Plant, a First in the US

DON'T MISS

Supermom Carmi Is Ready to Be Embraced by Her Forever Family

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: How Going to Work for Trump Turned Devin Nunes Into a Millionaire

DON'T MISS

House Speaker Mike Johnson Headed to Fresno on April 4

DON'T MISS

Chinese Leader Xi Issues a Positive Message to US Business Leaders as Ties Improve

DON'T MISS

Fresno Mayor Dyer Is the Man in Japan

DON'T MISS

Trump’s Social Media Company Soars Nearly 50% in Its First Day of Trading on Nasdaq

DON'T MISS

Trump Media Group CEO Nunes Headlines Fresno GOP Event

No data was found

Ex-Correctional Officer at Women’s Prison in California Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Inmates

4 hours ago

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Draw Nearly 5 Million Viewers for Second-Round NCAA Win

4 hours ago

Canadian School Boards Sue Snapchat, TikTok and Meta for Disrupting Students’ Education

4 hours ago

California Law Enforcement Agencies Obstruct Transparency Efforts in Use-of-Force Cases

4 hours ago

Fresno County Tackles Animal Overpopulation with New Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Program

5 hours ago

Fallen Crypto Mogul Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

5 hours ago

When Newsom Gives His State of the State, He Should Be Candid About California’s Economy

5 hours ago

No Police Charges for Taylor Swift’s Dad Over Paparazzi Incident in Sydney

5 hours ago

Biden Administration to Lend $1.5B to Restart Michigan Nuclear Power Plant, a First in the US

6 hours ago

Tonight’s Biden Fundraiser With Obama and Clinton Already Nets a Record $25 Million

7 hours ago

Biden’s Fundraiser with Obama and Clinton Nets a Record $25 Million, His Campaign Says

NEW YORK — A fundraiser for President Joe Biden on Thursday in New York City that also stars Barack Obama and Bill Clinton is raising a whop...

30 mins ago

30 mins ago

Biden’s Fundraiser with Obama and Clinton Nets a Record $25 Million, His Campaign Says

43 mins ago

Fresno Unified’s Self-Protection Racket Is Hurting Our Kids

1 hour ago

Rockin’ Out or Laughing, the Valley Has Its Pick of Weekend Events

4 hours ago

Ex-Correctional Officer at Women’s Prison in California Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Inmates

4 hours ago

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Draw Nearly 5 Million Viewers for Second-Round NCAA Win

4 hours ago

Canadian School Boards Sue Snapchat, TikTok and Meta for Disrupting Students’ Education

4 hours ago

California Law Enforcement Agencies Obstruct Transparency Efforts in Use-of-Force Cases

5 hours ago

Fresno County Tackles Animal Overpopulation with New Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Program

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend