Bed Bath & Beyond Says It Will Close 200 Stores Over the Next Two Years

Bed Bath & Beyond store in Los Angeles, Calif. on April 10, 2013. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Bed Bath & Beyond announced Wednesday that it plans to close about 200 stores over the next two years.

The announcement came as the firm unveiled its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday.

But the firm did not say what stores would be closing. Like many retailers across the United States, Bed Bath & Beyond was forced to temporarily shut down its locations due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.

And the firm said the pandemic was at least partially the reason why the company lost revenue.

“The impact of the COVID-19 situation was felt across our business during our fiscal first quarter, including loss of sales due to temporary store closures and margin pressure from the substantial channel shift to digital,” Bed Bath & Beyond Chief Executive Mark Tritton said in a statement Wednesday.

His statement added: “From the beginning of this crisis, we have taken measured, purposeful steps to help keep our people safe and our customers serviced, and we are proud of the way our teams have navigated this unprecedented challenge with speed and agility. At the same time, our actions to strengthen our financial position and liquidity are enhancing our flexibility and capacity to invest and rebuild our business for long-term success.”

According to reports, Bed Bath & Beyond operated a total of 1,478 stores, which includes nearly 1,000 Bed Bath & Beyond stores. The firm also operates Buybuy Baby, Christmas Tree Shops, and Harmon Face Values.

The company closed down 21 Bed Bath & Beyond locations earlier this year.

“We believe Bed Bath & Beyond will emerge from this crisis even stronger, given the strength of our brand, our people and our balance sheet,” Tritton said in the release.

A man walks by a Brooks Brothers store on Church St. in New York, on Sept. 11, 2001. The firm announced it would close down stores earlier in July Mark Lennihan/File/AP Photo

Amid the pandemic, a number of famed retailers were forced to close down stores or declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Late last month, retailer H&M announced it will close about 170 stores by the end of this year, 40 more than it had originally planned after reporting a drop in sales during the second quarter of 2020.

“The H&M group has taken rapid and forceful action to manage the COVID-19 situation. This has been done in all parts of the business, including areas such as product purchasing, investments, rents, staffing and financing. Since the majority of stores were closed, there was greater focus on the digital sales channels,” according to its earnings report.

And JCPenney became perhaps the most famous company to file for bankruptcy, while it announced that more than 150 locations would be shuttered by the end of the summer.

J.Crew on May 4 filed for bankruptcy. Neiman Marcus and Stage Stores filed for bankruptcy days later, while in mid-June 24 Hour Fitness announced it would file for bankruptcy, blaming the COVID-19-linked shutdown as the reason why.