Goodbye Bed Bath & Beyond, we hardly knew ye. The once-great retailer that used to be a staple for affordable home decor, kitchenware, and college dorm room furniture is now just a shadow of its former self. In a last-ditch effort to stave off bankruptcy, Bed Bath & Beyond has raised a measly $1 billion through an offering of preferred stock and warrants and appointed a bankruptcy expert as its interim CFO.
The company is closing 150 more stores, bringing the total number of store closures to 400 in the past year, leaving it with only 360 stores and 120 buybuyBaby locations. A list of the new store closures wasn’t immediately available, but what is available is the company’s dismal forecast of a 30% to 40% drop in sales for the first quarter.
The Retail Apocalypse Continues: Bed Bath & Beyond Can’t Keep Up with the Times.
Founded in 1971, Bed Bath & Beyond became known for its 20% off blue coupons and cavernous stores with merchandise stacked high to the ceiling. However, the company struggled to keep up with the times and make the transition to online shopping. With larger chains like Walmart and Target (TGT) eating into its market share, shoppers switched to those competitors as the novelty of Bed Bath & Beyond’s coupons faded.
The company was also hit hard during the pandemic, closing stores temporarily while its rivals remained open, resulting in a 17% loss in sales in 2020 and 14% in 2021.
A Meme Stock No More: Bed Bath & Beyond’s Shares Take a Nosed Dive. Bed Bath & Beyond was once part of the meme stock phenomenon, with shares skyrocketing as much as 400% last year when activist investor and GameStop chairman Ryan Cohen took a stake and sought changes. However, the company has defaulted on a loan and may not be able to remain in business, causing shares to drop 40% in pre-market trading. The once-great retailer has become a rollercoaster ride for investors, closing up 92% at $5.86 in a rollercoaster session Monday but now heading down the tracks at breakneck speed.
I wonder if banning My Pillow products had anything to do with this.
