In an attempt to revive its struggling business, Bed Bath & Beyond on Wednesday announced layoffs, store closures and a shake-up of the brands it sells.
On a call with investors, the retailer said that it would close 150 of its stores, lay off approximately 20% of its workforce, and get rid of several of its in-house home goods’ brands. The company also said that it had secured more than $500 million in financing.
“There is still an incredible degree of love for Bed Bath & Beyond,” Mara Sirhal, the newly named brand president of Bed Bath & Beyond, said in a statement. “We must get back to our rightful place as the home category destination, and our goal is to achieve this by leading with the product and brands our customers want.”
US companies added just 132,000 jobs in August as hiring slows: ADP
Bed Bath & Beyond’s stock dropped more than 20% Wednesday morning, as it added that sales at stores open for at least one year plunged 26% during its latest quarter.
Previously the stock had been on a wild ride, with meme investors pushing share up more than 250% in the last month. However, two weeks ago, a key investor dumped nearly his entire stake in the company, and reports surfaced that some of Bed Bath & Beyond’s suppliers had halted shipments due to unpaid bills.
As part of the push to reshape its image, the company plans to feature national brands more prominently, rather than its in-house brands. Studio 3B, Haven and Wild Sage will be discontinued.
Wednesday’s news comes on the heels of an announcement by Snapchat that it would also lay off 20% of its staff.
As of late May, the company had 955 stores. That includes 769 namesake stores, 135 Buybuy Baby stores and 51 stores under its Harmon or Face Values brands.
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I just read elsewhere that the drop off in business occurred shortly after the ‘woke’ management decided to drop the MY PILLOW like after Mike was seen with Donald Trump. Evidently quite a few customers were Trump fans and took their business to other retailers. Management should be wary of introducing woke values as paying customers may not be inclined to support them any longer.
Good. GET WOKE, go broke!
When Economic Sleepy Joe went to bed, our formerly prosperous companies all took a financial bath quite beyond belief.