The chief monetary officer of the troubled house items retailer Bed Bath & Beyond fell to his death from a New York skyscraper referred to as the “Jenga” tower on Friday, police stated, simply days after the corporate stated it was closing a number of shops.
Gustavo Arnal, 52, joined Bed Bath & Beyond in 2020. He beforehand labored for the cosmetics model Avon, in London and Walgreens Boots Alliance. He additionally had a 20-year stint with Procter & Gamble, in accordance to his LinkedIn profile.
On Friday at 12.30pm, police responded to a 911 name and located a 52-year-old man lifeless close to the 60-story tower at 56 Leonard Street that will get its identify from the best way the flats are stacked like blocks within the Jenga sport.
Police later recognized the person as Arnal. They didn’t present additional particulars on the circumstances main to Arnal’s death however stated the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office would decide the reason for the fatality.
In a press release, Harriet Edelman, unbiased chair of the Bed Bath & Beyond board, stated: “Gustavo will be remembered by all he worked with for his leadership, talent and stewardship of our company.
“I am proud to have been his colleague, and he will be truly missed by all of us at Bed Bath & Beyond and everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.”
On 16 August, Arnal bought 55,013 shares within the firm, Reuters’ calculations primarily based on SEC filings confirmed.
The big-box chain – as soon as thought of a so-called “category killer” in house and tub items – has seen its fortunes falter after an try to streamline merchandise it carries and promote extra own-brand items. In June, as gross sales slumped, the chief executive, Mark Tritton, was ousted.
Last week, the corporate stated it will shut 150 shops, reduce jobs and overhaul its merchandising technique in an try to flip round its enterprise. It reported that comparable gross sales fell 26% within the final quarter and it burned by about $325m of money reserves.
In August, the corporate skilled a meme-stock bounce. Its shares made a monstrous run, from $5.77 to $23.08 over slightly greater than two weeks, in buying and selling paying homage to final 12 months’s meme-stock craze, when out-of-favor firms all of the sudden turned darlings of smaller-pocketed traders.
In mid-August, the shareholder activist Ryan Cohen, co-founder of on-line pet-products retailer Chewy, bought his 10% stake within the firm months after taking the place. Reddit-board traders who regard Cohen as a “meme-lord” adopted swimsuit.
After Bed Bath & Beyond inventory was downgraded by the scores company Baird – “this frenzied move has been driven by non-fundamentally focused market participants”, a Baird analyst informed shoppers – the corporate’s inventory halved once more, dropping its market capitalization to under $1bn.
Announcing the closure of shops final week, the interim chief executive, Sue Gove, stated Bed Bath & Beyond would embrace “a straight-forward, back-to-basics philosophy that focuses on better serving our customers, driving growth and delivering business returns”.