Bed Bath & Beyond is "running out of time"

by



[ad_1]

"The company has not followed the evolution of the customer and the way consumers buy today," said Mary Winston, interim CEO, at analysts at a conference Wednesday.

Bed Bath & Beyond said sales at stores open at least a year had dropped 6.6% in its last quarter. Bed Bath & Beyond also lost money in the last quarter.

"Our approach needs to be fundamentally changed," she said. Bath & Beyond Bed & # 39; s (BBBY) stocks has lost about 90% of its value over the past five years and is about to slide below $ 10 a share. On Thursday, stocks fell to a minimum of 20 years.
Winston, a former Family Dollar executive, is trying to stabilize Bed Bath & Beyond after years of tough sales and a messy campaign of militants that led to the ousting of the retailer's veteran CEO in May. Bed Bath & Beyond has since settled with groups of activists by reforming its board of directors and agreeing to make changes to the company.

Bed Bath & Beyond strives to find a new general manager capable of transforming the retailer as competition intensifies.

The channel has fallen behind traditional retailers, which have increased their presence in the home market and a new series of consumer online brands. Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT) and Amazon (AMZN) have launched cheaper private label home brands, while Wayfair (W) has invested heavily in advertising to familiarize customers with its brand.

Despite efforts to drive down prices, Bed Bath & Beyond remains about 10% more expensive than Amazon for similar items, according to a study conducted this week on prices by UBS from both retailers.

Bed Bath & Beyond is also under pressure from discounters TJ Maxx (TJX) and his HomeGoods arm.

Retail analysts remain skeptical. Bed Bath & Beyond "could run out of time, and the company will have to keep investing to survive," Oliver Wintermantel, analyst at Evercore ISI, said Thursday. "It's hard for us to get excited" for society.

New generation stores

The company's first task is to close the inefficient Bed Bath & Beyond stores and its many stores. Bed Bath & Beyond has nearly 1,000 stores in the United States, as well as hundreds of World Market, Cost Plus, Buy Buy and Harmon stores.

Bed Bath & Beyond is closing at least 40 Bed Bath stores this year and announced Wednesday that it would likely close further.

In stores that he plans to keep open, he will try to reduce clutter. Critics have stated that Bed Bath & Beyond stores are too messy, with goods piled high up.

"We need to give our customers a reason to continue shopping in our physical stores," said Winston. "To do this, we must update and improve the store experience."

Business leaders are also banking on its "new generation laboratory stores" to attract customers.

Bed Bath & Beyond has remodeled over 30 stores in a variety of configurations to give shoppers a better view of the merchandise. He is testing new ideas in these "labs" that sell more home decor, food, health and beauty products than traditional stores.

Bed Bath & Beyond hopes to be able to use what's working in stores and deploy it throughout the store, Winston said.

[ad_2]

Source link