Bed Bath & Beyond is the latest, but not the last, physical victim of what experts are calling a “retail apocalypse” that will lead to the closure of more than 50,000 stores over the next four years.
Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday after warning for months that it would go under.
The 360 remaining stores and 120 Buybuy Baby stores in the US will remain open for now as the company liquidates and attempts to auction off assets, but the future looks bleak.
Ultimately, all 30,000 employees are at risk of losing their jobs.
The entrance to a Bed Bath & Beyond store is seen in Anchorage, Alaska, on Sunday, April 23, 2023, the day the retail giant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Shares in the company flattened Monday morning, opening as low as 20 cents. At its highest level in 2015, the company’s share price was $78
Its demise is one of the most pervasive in recent memory – the company was founded in 1971 and became ubiquitous in the American home goods market.
Shares in the company flattened Monday morning, opening as low as 20 cents. At its highest level in 2015, the company’s share price was $78.
But the shutdown signals a broader trend sweeping the US – the long-awaited disappearance of brick-and-mortar stores as online giants like Amazon gain strength.
UBS warned earlier this year that 50,000 stores would close by 2027 as online dominance grows.
“The pace of store closures will accelerate due to the combination of a slowdown in consumer spending, a reduction in credit availability and an increase in e-commerce penetration,” analyst Michael Lasser said in the report obtained by DailyMail. com.
Since January 2021, a handful of major US retailers have announced hundreds of store closures, putting thousands of jobs at risk and marking the end for many brick-and-mortar stores and malls
UBS has increased its predicted store closures from 40,000 to 50,000 by 2027.
The analysts point to the other brands that have closed stores in the US since 2021 as evidence of the ongoing corrosion.
In November 2021, CVS announced it would close 900 of its stores — about 10 percent of the total.
Foot Locker recently announced 545 additional closures, while Tailored Brands announced last year it would close 500.
Six Walmart stores also closed for good in the US this weekend.
Among the driving factors behind the closures are a slowdown in consumer spending and rising costs of operating stores.
Bed, Bath & Beyond fell through the shelves, unable to compete with the reduced offerings of rivals like TJ Maxx and Target’s value ranges, and with their products not seen as little luxuries worth paying more for. pay,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdow.
Now analysts warn that the only stores that have a chance to compete with Amazon and Wayfair are those that invest in their online infrastructure.
Walmart, for example, is investing heavily in its online presence and can afford to absorb the higher operating costs that make independent businesses so burdensome.
Bank of America analysts named Walmart Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Target, Wayfair, and Williams-Sonoma Inc as the companies seeking revenue from Bed Bath & Beyond’s bankruptcy.
Earlier this year, the company raised $1 billion in funding in a desperate bid to stay afloat. Those funds temporarily supported the share price, but were not enough to save the company.
Interim CEO Sue Gove, who was appointed last October to steer the company through turbulent waters, has yet to make an external statement.