Lafayette's Bed Bath & Beyond on closing list

LAFAYETTE, Ind. −The Bed Bath & Beyond in Lafayette is among a growing number of stores to be closed across the country, according to a list from the company dated Feb. 7, 2023.

The addition of the Lafayette store, located at 3555 State Road 38 East, comes less than a month after Bed Bath & Beyond announced the shuttering of hundreds of stores amid bankruptcy talks.

"At the beginning of the third quarter," Sue Gove, president and CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond, wrote on Jan. 10 in a public filing, "we initiated a turnaround plan anchored on serving our loyal customers, following a period when our merchandise and strategy had veered away from their preferences. Although we moved quickly and effectively to change the assortment and other merchandising and marketing strategies, inventory was constrained and we did not achieve our goals."

Other central Indiana stores closing include those in Bloomington and Noblesville, according to the list. The Valparaiso store also appeared on the list.

In a Jan. 31 USA Today report, no stores in Indiana had yet appeared on the list of closures.

Gove stated in the public filings the company was on track to close 150 stores, "which will further enable us to allocate resources according to customer demand."

The company detailed in its third-quarter report that the plan to cut $500 million in costs was "on track," stating a net sales loss of $393 million over the previous year.

In the January filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Bed Bath & Beyond stated, "The Company expects to report net sales of approximately $1.259 billion for the three months ended November 26, 2022 compared to net sales of $1.878 billion for the three months ended November 27, 2021. The expected decline in net sales versus last year is driven by lower customer traffic and reduced levels of inventory availability, among other factors."

According to CNBC on Tuesday, the same date stamped on the latest closing list, the stock price for Bed Bath & Beyond fell more than 48%, taking its market value to about $353 million. The company, CNBC continued, defaulted on a loan in January and missed a $25 million interest payment on Feb. 1, details cited in the company's SEC filings.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette's Bed Bath & Beyond on closing list