Bed Bath & Beyond saves itself from Chapter 11 by closing stores and raising $1 billion

Bedding Bath and Beyond: Restructuring, reinvestigation, and the state of its financial health after the Black Friday sale announcement

The retailer has struggled to find its footing in the last few years through a series of poorly timed or otherwise lackluster turnaround strategies as its stores have seen fewer shoppers.

Bed Bath & Beyond has concluded that there is substantial doubts about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, it said on Thursday. This means that Bed Bath & Beyond must consider all the financial options, including restructuring.

Bed Bath said it expects to report sales declining by 33% compared to last year for the quarter that ended right after Black Friday, a reflection of “lower customer traffic and reduced levels of inventory availability.” The forecast suggested losses would increase by almost 40% to $385.8 million.

The stock of Bed Bath and Beyond went up by as much as 400% last year after activist investor Ryan Cohen took a stake.

The company got financing late in the summer that helped it during the holiday shopping season. The retailer is facing waning interest from its creditor.

That includes last week’s announcement that it was also closing all 49 remaining Harmon Face Value stores, which sold cosmetics; plus 5 buybuy Baby locations. There were new store closings that weren’t immediately available.

A turnaround doesn’t look imminent: The embattled home goods chain forecasts first quarter sales to be down by 30% to 40% with “sequential, quarterly sales improvement thereafter” the filing said.

Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc., announced it had raised $1 Billion in a Last-Ditch Attempt to Stave Off Bankruptcy

The company said Tuesday it raised some $1 billion through an offering of preferred stock and warrants in a last-ditch effort to stave off bankruptcy. On Monday, the company said it appointed Holly Etlin, a bankruptcy expert, as interim chief financial officer.

Bed Bath & Beyond said it will eventually have over 500 stores. A year ago the company announced it would close 500 stores and the new company will be half the size of the old one.

The company struggled to make the move to online shopping and fight off large chains such as Walmart and Target. Many people switched to those competitors as the novelty of Bed Bath & Beyond coupons faded.