Wilmette Bed, Bath & Beyond To Close, Leaving New Edens Plaza Vacancy

WILMETTE, IL —The Bed Bath & Beyond store at Edens Plaza will be permanently shuttered in the coming months, company officials announced.

The troubled big box-retailer's Wilmette location is among the 87 stores added to its list of imminently closing locations.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bed, Bath & Beyond company management said "supplier constraints and vendor credit line decreases" led to lower inventories and a decrease in sales.

Bed Bath & Beyond's profit fell by a 28 percent in the nine months ending in November, compared to a year earlier. The company lost $1.117 billion during that nine-month period, according to the quarterly report, which suggested that it may need to file bankruptcy within a year.

"Based on recurring losses from operations and negative cash flows from operations for the nine months ended November 26, 2022 as well as current cash and liquidity projections," Bed, Bath & Beyond company officials said, "the Company has concluded that there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for the next 12 months."

This week's store closure disclosures follows the company's announcement last year that it plans to close 150 locations across the country. As of Tuesday, 14 Illinois store locations have been slated to be shuttered.

Edens Plaza first opened in 1956 amid the first wave of suburban retail centers and was redeveloped in 1994 after Carson's sold it to Joseph Freed Associates. The president and vice president the firm would both wind up serving time in federal prison for fraud convictions.

Following the redevelopment, the Wilmette Bed, Bath & Beyond location opened alongside a Borders Books and Music, United Audio Center and a Pet Care Superstore, the Chicago Tribune reported at the time.

The shopping center's anchor tenant, Carson's, has been vacant since 2018. Last year, the site was purchased by Massachusetts-based WS Development, which plans to lease the redeveloped Carson's "box" to online retailer Wayfair. The renovated site is expected to open by early next year.

A spokesperson for Bed Bath & Beyond said sales will continue for "the next few weeks and months" but declined to answer repeated questions about the scheduled closing date in Wilmette — or whether company leaders plan to close other north suburban stores.

Related: Wayfair At Edens Plaza Gets Final Wilmette Village Board Approval