Bad investments, low inventory and strategic missteps have left the housewares chain with few paths for survival
A Bed Bath & Beyond in Farmingdale, N.Y., is one of dozens of stores poised for closure. The retailer has said it might not be able to continue as a going concern, bringing another U.S. retail chain to the brink of bankruptcy. (Johnny Milano/Bloomberg News)
In its prime, Bed Bath & Beyond stacked its aisles high and wide with linens, kitchen wares and as-seen-on-TV gadgets. It was the homebody’s happy place, with 20 percent-off coupons always within reach.
But now, the Union, N.J.-based chain is on a precipice, as a slow, years-long decline metastasizes within a haze of strategic missteps, bad investments, patchy inventory and indifferent shoppers. Executives warn that bankruptcy might be unavoidable, although many experts wonder whether the 52-year-old retailer will survive at all.
A terrible, terrible mistake’
Founded in 1971, Bed Bath & Beyond was one of the first big retailers in the specialty-store space. It became the go-to destination for housewares, small kitchen appliances, wedding registries and college dorm supplies. But business began to cool in 2010, Saunders said, as Amazon, Wayfair, Walmart, Target and other brands bolstered their homeware lines. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)