Bed Bath & Beyond faces supply snags, slowing sales

Bloomberg

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc blamed an unexpected fourth-quarter loss and slowing sales on global supply-chain disruptions and weakening consumer confidence.
The retailer said that an “abnormally high” level of inventory was in transit, unavailable or held at ports through the early part of this quarter. That contributed to a larger-than-expected drop in sales and has thrown a wrench into the company’s plans to reignite growth and improve profitability.
A string of weak quarterly reports is adding fuel to the debate about what Bed Bath & Beyond should do with
its baby-products business, which keeps growing despite the overall company’s slump. Activist investor Ryan Cohen, whose firm won three board seats last month, has urged the retailer to consider selling the Buybuy Baby division or the entire company.
CEO Mark Tritton said inventory problems, inflation, the omicron variant and geopolitical turbulence have all hurt consumer confidence and exposed “short-term to medium-term vulnerabilities” in Bed Bath & Beyond’s business. Other retailers have been better equipped to deal with supply-chain disruptions caused by the pandemic, which the company says underscores why it’s playing catch up now with investments in technology, sourcing and pricing.
Trends have worsened in the current quarter with comparable sales down in the 20% range, Bed Bath & Beyond said.