Struggling Bed Bath & Beyond closing 150 more stores
JOE CAVARETTA/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
A shopper enters the Bed Bath and Beyond store in Coral Springs, Fla., Feb. 2. The troubled chain is closing stores across the U.S.
NEW YORK >> Bed Bath & Beyond said today it will be shuttering 150 more stores as the beleaguered home goods chain cuts costs as it works to stay afloat.
The announcement came after the company based in Union, New Jersey, said it had raised about $1 billion through offerings of preferred stock and warrants to purchase the company’s common stock. The funds will be used to pay off its debt, it said.
The company’s volatile stock, which rose 92% on Monday, fell 47% today, ending the day at $3.01, down 82% over the past year.
In early January, Bed Bath & Beyond warned that it may need to file for bankruptcy. A few weeks later, it said it was in default on its loans and didn’t have sufficient funds to repay what it owes.
The latest store closures come as the chain has been reducing its footprint dramatically over the past year. According to a regulatory filing, it will have shuttered more than 400 stores, nearly half of its fleet. That includes the remaining 50 standalone Harmon Face Value Stores, which sells beauty and household products. The company said it anticipates keeping 360 of its namesake stores in addition to 120 BuyBuy Baby stores.
Bed Bath & Beyond also said in the filing that it expects sales at stores opened at least a year to be down anywhere from 30% to 40% during its first fiscal quarter, with “sequential quarterly improvement after that.”
