Bed Bath & Beyond To Close 150 Stores; Are WI Locations Affected?

WISCONSIN — Retail company Bed Bath & Beyond announced Wednesday plans to close 150 stores and cut 20 percent of its workforce across the nation, but it is not yet clear if the company's eight stores in Wisconsin will be affected.

The retailer has two stores in the greater Milwaukee area, including one in Greendale and Mequon. Other locations across the state are in Green Bay, Grand Chute, Madison, Wausau and Kenosha.

The constriction is part of the chain’s turnaround push. The closures include “lower producing” banner namesake stores, and layoffs will be across corporate and supply chain staff, the company said in a news release ahead of a call with investors.

The retailer saw changes in 2019 when Wisconsin still had 10 Bed Bath & Beyond stores. In January 2022, the retailer closed its Sheboygan location, The Sheboygan Press reported at the time.

Sluggish sales have carried into the third quarter, the company said, with in-store sales dropping by 26 percent for the three-month period ending Aug. 27, compared with the same period in 2021. It was the steepest drop in sales the chain had seen in years.

The company said it had received $500 million in new financing to shore up its business model before the important fourth quarter holiday shopping season. Plans include returning national brands to store shelves, a strategy interim CEO Sue Gove said is intended to make the company once again “a preferred shopping destination.”

“We are embracing a straight-forward, back-to-basics philosophy that focuses on better serving our customers, driving growth, and delivering business returns,” Gove said in the release, adding, “The customer underpins our decisions, and we are committed to delivering what they want while driving growth, profitability, and financial returns.”