Bed Bath & Beyond to Close 150 More Stores

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Bed Bath & Beyond is closing 150 more stores just a week after the struggling retailer announced the closure of 87 locations.

Bed Bath & Beyond said on Tuesday it will be shuttering 150 more stores as the beleaguered home goods chain cuts costs as it works to stay afloat.

The New Jersey-based company said this week that it had raised about $1 billion through offerings of preferred stock and warrants to purchase the company’s common stock. The funds will be used to pay off its debt, it said.

The locations of the new closures are not yet known. A company representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment CNN reported.

The company said on Tuesday it raised some $1 billion through an offering of preferred stock and warrants in a last-ditch effort to stave off bankruptcy. On Monday, the company said it appointed Holly Etlin, a bankruptcy expert, as interim chief financial officer.

Bed Bath & Beyond said on Tuesday it will ultimately have 360 stores and 120 buybuyBaby stores. That means that the company will have announced plans to close nearly 500 of the stores it had just a year ago, and the new company will be about half of the size of the old one

The chain has said in recent weeks that it had defaulted on a loan and may not be able to remain in business, raising concerns about its future. Bed Bath & Beyond held talks in recent days with an investment firm to underwrite a significant portion of the proposed offering, according to reporters.

Bed Bath and Beyond has been part of the meme stock phenomenon, with shares skyrocketing as much as 400% last year when activist investor and GameStop chairman Ryan Cohen took a stake and sought changes.

Shares of the retailer, which closed up 92% at $5.86 in a rollercoaster session on Monday, were down 40% in in pre-market trading on Tuesday.