Bed Bath & Beyond is closing its Lewisville distribution center and cutting more than 300 jobs amid ongoing financial struggles and a looming concern over the big-box retailer’s likelihood of bankruptcy.
Bed Bath & Beyond announced that it was closing its Lewisville distribution center at 2900 South Valley Parkway, according to an official letter sent by the company to the Texas Workforce Commission and reported on by The Dallas Morning News. As part of the closure, the company said it would be terminating all 374 employees at the facility between March 26 and April 1.
Bed Bath & Beyond leased the 800,000-square-foot facility in 2016 to accommodate its transition into e-commerce. However, growing financial difficulties and a shrinking market share forced the struggling retailer to slash expenses by closing hundreds of Bed Bath & Beyond stores throughout 2022.
Prospects for the New Jersey-based retailer appear grim following negative back-to-back financial results and an ongoing struggle to pay its ballooning debt.
In a January 5 business update from the company Sue Gove, President & CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond, said that “transforming an organization of our size and scale requires time, and we anticipate that each coming quarter will build on our progress,”
Still, despite more productive merchandise plans and improved execution, Bed Bath & Beyond was negatively impacted due to reduced credit limits and inventory constraints, among other micro and macro-economic challenges, Grove explained.
Even in the unlikelihood of a turnaround or the sale of its Buy Buy Baby brand, the company is basically on borrowed time, according to Neil Saunders, managing director at research firm GlobalData.
“Unfortunately, Bed Bath & Beyond is in no position to meet the demands. It has virtually diminished its cash reserves, has obligated all of its assets against existing debt, and has a business that is still not working,” said Saunders, as reported by The Dallas Morning News.
Things haven’t gotten much better for the company. On Wednesday, Bed Bath & Beyond received a notice of default and a request for immediate repayment of its loans through JPMorgan. A day later, the company confirmed that it had missed interest payments on approximately $1 billion in bonds and had entered a 30-day grace period with the bank.
Bed Bath & Beyond provides a full list of 2023 store closures, which can be found here.
