Bed Bath And... Bust?
Bed Bath & Beyond is ditching its CEO after another lackluster quarter that saw the ailing retailer's sales drop by 25% relative to this time last year.
After 3 years at the helm, the strategy of outgoing CEO Mark Tritton — who had focused on switching out branded goods for private-label products and cleaning up crowded stores — just hasn't worked. The once venerable retailer may not be bankrupt yet, but time is against the company, and investors don't appear to be holding much faith — the company's share price is down 68% this year and the market cap of the company is now just ~$400m, a tiny fraction of the $5-7bn in sales the company is likely to record this year.
Falling sales just wasn't something Bed Bath & Beyond was used to. The chain grew from $167m in annual sales in 1992, to more than $12bn at its peak in 2018. But just as things were slowing down naturally, with store closures aiming to optimize the company's portfolio, COVID hit. Months of diminished footfall, supply chain problems and demand that never bounced back have taken their toll — with some reports that stores are even cutting down on air conditioning in a bid to lower costs.
