Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday after the home goods retailers failed to secure enough funds to remain operation despite several attempts to do so.
The company has warned of a potential bankruptcy since January, telling investors that it does not have enough cash on hand after a bleak 2022 holiday shopping season marked the end of years of declining demand due to the raise of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and other online shopping trends.
Shares of BBBY closed at $0.29 on Friday at a market value of about $137 million. The stock is down over 90% year-to-date; it was trading around $20 per share in April 2022.
Where did its efforts go wrong?
Bed Bath & Beyond told shareholders in January that it was struggling to stay afloat, but the company showed that it did not want to go down without a fight. The retailer secured a stock offering in early February that was expected to bring in more than $1 billion, but ultimately only totaled $360 million, the company said.
In March, the company announced another stock offering, but the news only made its stock tailspin lower. At this time, Bed Bath & Beyond had also partnered with Hilco Global to help maintain the company's relationship with key suppliers to keep its shelves stocked as it looked to improve operation.
Still, Bed Bath & Beyond's crisis did not just come about from disappointing holiday sales last year. The company has been working on a turnaround plan since October 2019, when it added Target (NYSE: TGT) veteran Mark Tritton as its new CEO. It was through Tritton that the company started its first "rebrand" that favored more private labels over national brands to encourage consumers to return to its stores. However, this strategy did not work the same way it did for Target under Tritton's leadership.
In June, Bed Bath & Beyond replaced Tritton with Sue Gove, who launched the second "rebrand" of the struggling retailer. However, her turnaround plan failed to repair relationships with vendors. Moreover, consumers began to look for cheaper alternatives for goods as high interest rates and persistently high inflation impacted Americans' wallets, putting further pressure on Bed Bath & Beyond.
What's next for the company?
Bed Bath & Beyond said its 360 brick-and-mortar namesake and 120 BuyBuyBaby locations will remain open as it begins to wind down operations and liquidate assets.
The retailer filed for bankruptcy in a District of New Jersey court, listing both its estimated assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion and $10 billion, according to the filing. Of its list of 25,001 to 50,000 total creditors, with include Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) and Keurig (NASDAQ: KDP), it owe BNY Mellon (NYSE: BK) the most at $1.18 billion.
Bed Bath & Beyond said it has secured about $240 million in debtor-in-possession funding from Sixth Street Specialty Lending, according to a statement, which will help the company maintain operations through the bankruptcy process, including wages and benefits to employees.