Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond fell to a record low on Thursday shortly after the company announced that it will likely have to file for bankruptcy if it doesn’t manage to secure funding from a massive, $300 million stock sale.
It announced as much in a filing with the SEC, saying, “If we do not receive the proceeds from the offering of securities covered by this prospectus supplement, we expect that we will likely file for bankruptcy protection.”
Shares in the stock crashed after that filing came out, closing below a dollar on Thursday and at just 43 cents at the end of the day on Friday.
Fox Business, reporting on the company’s desperate financial situation, noted that the company had announced it was in dire straights in January and that it has been shuttering stores in a desperate attempt to turn around its finances, saying:
The beleaguered retailer first issued a warning in January as it struggled to attract shoppers and compete with behemoths such as Walmart, Amazon and Target.
At the time, it announced that it was looking into options, including selling assets or restructuring its business in bankruptcy court. However, it acknowledged that even those efforts may not be successful. Meanwhile, the company continued to shutter dozens of stores to try and turn around its business.
In addition to 150 store closures announced in 2022, the company said it will close 87 additional Bed Bath & Beyond stores and five BuyBuy Baby stores. The company is also shutting down its health and beauty discount chain Harmon.
Despite the desperate situation, CEO Sue Gove said in a statement on Thursday that the company still could recover, claiming that what it has done so far has managed to “create the necessary financial runway to begin restoring our iconic Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy BABY businesses.”
The bankruptcy news comes a little over two years after the retailer stopped selling Mike Lindell’s “MyPillow” products in response to the events of January 6th, as CNN reported at the time, saying:
Bed Bath & Beyond has stopped selling MyPillow products following CEO Mike Lindell’s support of the January 6 insurrection and his continued false statements questioning the validity of the US presidential election.
The retailer said in a statement Tuesday that it’s discontinuing the sales of a “number of underperforming items and brands,” which includes MyPillow. Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) said it’s part of its broader plan of selling more in-house brands when they debut this spring.
Lindell, a major Republican donor, said in an interview with a right-wing broadcaster that the retailers are “scared” and blamed “leftist groups” for pressuring the retailers into dropping his product. He said that Wayfair, Kohl’s and HEB also stopped selling MyPillow products. The three companies didn’t respond to CNN Business’ requests for comment.
The MyPillows themselves certainly weren’t the reason for Bed, Bath, and Beyond’s financial failure, though conservative anger at the company could have played a role in its demise, particularly when paired with the general death of retail and rise in online shopping.
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