Homeware giant Bed Bath & Beyond has filed for bankruptcy
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Bed Bath & Beyond has lost shoppers and money after a series of ineffective or mistimed turnaround attempts. It has also exhausted numerous financial lifelines. Shown here is a Bed Bath & Beyond store in Westbury, New York.
The once-dominant home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond has filed for bankruptcy protection after months of losing shoppers and money.
The company, which also owns the BuyBuy Baby chain, has struggled to regain its financial footing after a series of turnaround attempts that proved to be mistimed or ineffective.
"Millions of customers have trusted us through the most important milestones in their lives from going to college to getting married, settling into a new home to having a baby," said Sue Gove, the company's president and CEO. "Our teams have worked with incredible purpose to support and strengthen our beloved banners, Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy BABY. We deeply appreciate our associates, customers, partners, and the communities we serve, and we remain steadfastly determined to serve them throughout this process."
The company said that for now its 360 Bed Bath & Beyond and 120 BuyBuy Baby stores and websites would remain open, but that over time they would be closed.
Since first warning of a bankruptcy in January, the company has exhausted numerous last-ditch efforts to shore up financing, including store closures, job cuts and several lifelines from banks and investors.
Bed Bath & Beyond
previously cited
"lower customer traffic and reduced levels of inventory availability" as it flagged "substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern." A preliminary report for the holiday-season quarter showed sales falling 40% to 50% from a year earlier. Sales had fallen similarly in the quarter before that, down 32%.
Bed Bath & Beyond was once a dominant "category killer" that absorbed or outlived many early rivals. As recently as 2018, the chain had over 1,500 stores.
But it tipped into bankruptcy after a few roller coaster years.
Its shares rose and crashed as a meme stock on the news that activist investor Ryan Cohen invested in the company. He shook up corporate leadership and then cashed out of his bet with a tidy profit.
Then came hundreds of store closures,
Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 9:55 am