Bed Bath & Beyond's Turnaround Plan Includes Store Closures, Layoffs and $500M in Financing

Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Sue Gove said on a call with investors Wednesday that "in order to accelerate our turnaround," the troubled retailer has secured $500 million in financing, will close select stores, and institute layoffs among its corporate and supply chain staff.

In her strategic update to investors Wednesday, Gove said she expects a 20 percent reduction in workforce across the corporate and supply chain offices, as well as the closure of about 150 lower-producing Bed Bath & Beyond Stores (the retailer also owns Buy Buy Baby, Harmon, and Decorist).

Other changes announced in the investor call include:

• Executive-level position changes: Mara Sirhal, formerly chief merchandising officer, has been named brand president of Bed Bath & Beyond and will report to Gove. Patty Wu, formerly the Harmon general manager, has been named brand president of Buy Buy Baby and will also report to Gove. The company has also eliminated its chief stores officer and chief operating officer roles.
• A decision to keep its Buy Buy BABY brand. The retailer was considering selling the brand earlier this year.
• Getting rid of some of its private-label brands, including Haven, Wild Sage, and Studio 3B.

Total Retail's Take: The home, baby, beauty and wellness omnichannel retailer has experienced turbulence for months and is facing pressure from its investors to turn things around following financial losses due to a crowded vertical market, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues and inflation, to name a few of its challenges. Bed Bath & Beyond has also had trouble generating widespread consumer adoption of its private-label products, and as a result will instead reprioritize national brands like UGG and KitchenAid.

The company also fired its CEO, Mark Tritton, in June and hired Gove to replace him on an interim basis. So in short, there's been a lot of change at BB&B in a short period of time.