Bed Bath & Beyond warns it may file for bankruptcy. Here's what customers and employees should know.
- Bed Bath & Beyond may file for bankruptcy, according to a company SEC filing Thursday.
- The company said there is "serious doubt" it can continue on as it has suffered declines in sales.
Bed Bath & Beyond's troubles just got a lot worse.
The New Jersey-based home goods company, which last year announced plans to close 150 stores and slash 20% of corporate jobs, said in an SEC filing Thursday that there is a "substantial doubt" about Bed Bath & Beyond's "ability to continue going."
The company is even considering filing for bankruptcy.
"The Company continues to consider all strategic alternatives including restructuring or refinancing its debt, seeking additional debt or equity capital, reducing or delaying the Company's business activities and strategic initiatives, or selling assets, other strategic transactions and/or other measures, including obtaining relief under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code," Bed Bath & Beyond wrote in the SEC filing. "These measures may not be successful."
For the company's quarter ending Nov. 26, 2022, Bed Bath & Beyond said it expects a decline in sales of more than $600 million compared to the year prior — $1.26 billion compared to the previous $1.88 billion.
And the company anticipates losing $385.8 million for the previous quarter.
If Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy, the company could go out of business — meaning employees would lose their jobs and the company would have to liquidate its assets. This could lead to the company offering closeout deals for customers.
Also, experts say that in the case of a retail bankruptcy, it's often good practice to use gift cards sooner than later.
Bed Bath & Beyond shares were down 20% down when the stock market opened Thursday, compared Wednesday's close.
The retailer's warning prompted a gloomy forecast from analyst Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData. "In our view, Bed Bath & Beyond is too far gone to be saved in its present form," Saunders wrote. "A catalogue of missteps has run the company into the ground and has made it increasingly irrelevant. Only very radical action will allow it to survive and even if it does, it will be a shadow of its former self."