Bed Bath & Beyond closing stores, making changes as losses mount
UNION – Bed Bath & Beyond has announced plans to close some 150 stores, including several in New Jersey.
But South Jersey shoppers won’t see any sign of the commercial carnage, although they’re likely to witness changes in BB&B’s local stores and at its online market.
A list posted by the troubled retailer on Wednesday identified seven doomed stores in Central and North Jersey.
Bed Bath & Beyond said it’s focused on “reconnecting with our customers” after a third-quarter net loss of about $393 million, considerably worse than its year-before deficit of $276.4 million.
Quarterly sales of $1.25 billion slumped by 33 percent from year-before levels for online shoppers and by 31 percent in its stores.
The firm lost $1.11 billion for the year's first nine months. That compared to red ink of $400.5 million a year earlier.
The company noted a disappointing start for a turnaround plan aimed at “loyal customers, following a period when our merchandise and strategy had veered away from their preferences.”
The plan calls for Bed Bath and Beyond to emphasize national brands over its own private-label products, now down by 10 percent from peak levels earlier in the fiscal year.
But “inventory was constrained and we did not achieve our goals,” said Gove, who added the firm is working to put more products on its shelves.
Gove also pointed to the need to improve store service while slashing costs, saying “ease of shopping is critical.”
“Our customer shops differently today,” she said during a conference call with investment analysts. “They visit stores less frequently and have higher expectations when they do visit around service, engagement and assortment.”
The retailer had 726 Bed Bath & Beyond stores when the quarter ended on Nov. 26. It operated 137 Buy Buy Baby and 50 Harmon stores.
The shutdown list includes three Bed Bath and Beyond stores in Paramus, Bergen County; Flanders, Morris County; and Manalapan, Monmouth County.
The firm also is shutting Buy Buy Baby stores in Princeton, Mercer County, and Rockaway, Morris County, as well as a Harmon wellness and beauty store in Parsippany, Morris County.
The list also includes one store in Philadelphia's Pennsylvania suburbs, a Bed Bath & Beyond in Wynnewood, Montgomery County.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Bed Bath & Beyond boosting national brands over private-label products
