With gross sales down and prices up, a number of Oklahoma Bed Bath & Beyond stores’ days are numbered.
When the kitchen axe will fall is not recognized publicly. A supervisor on the retailer in Moore referred inquiries to firm headquarters in Union, New Jersey, and nobody there returned a request for remark.
But these Bed Bath & Beyond stores in Oklahoma are on the butcher block:
- 2150 S Service Road, Shops at Moore, Moore.
- 620 Ed Noble Parkway, Parkway Plaza, Norman.
- 5352 E Skelly Drive, Tulsa.
- 7410 S Olympia Ave., Tulsa Hills Shopping Center, Tulsa.
Two Oklahoma stores are protected, for now:
- 412 S Bryant Ave., Bryant Square Shopping Center, Edmond.
- 2848 NW 63, French Market, Oklahoma City.
More:Bed Bath & Beyond closing extra stores and promoting inventory to keep away from chapter
In all, Bed Bath & Beyond has closed, or introduced plans to shut, 440 of the 949 stores it had open at the beginning of the final vacation purchasing season, in addition to its almost 800,000-square-foot warehouse in suburban Dallas, in keeping with CoStar News. The closing stores embody Buy Buy Baby and Harmon places owned by Bed Bath & Beyond.
The closings will price Oklahoma from 160 to 240 jobs. A typical Bed Bath & Beyond employs between 40 and 60 individuals, mentioned Janet Yowell, govt director of the Edmond Economic Development Authority.
Why Bed Bath & Beyond stores in OKC and Edmond are protected for now
Why would the stores in Norman, Moore and two in Tulsa get the axe, however not those in Edmond and on NW 63?
“Profitability,” mentioned Sam Swanson, director and vp of retail for OKC property brokerage NAI Sullivan Group. “We’ve heard rumors for months now about BB&B closures, and the weak links are shuttering first.
“Corporate BB&B will do and have been doing every thing they will to forestall from closing stores, however clearly these first 150 places nationally have been sinking firm earnings, and lowering retailer depend is a purpose to cut back overhead.”
Put bluntly, “At this level, it’s all about gross sales and survival,” mentioned Jim Parrack, senior vp and retail specialist with Price Edwards & Co.
What happened to get Bed Bath & Beyond in such financial trouble?
Parrack said some of Bed Bath & Beyond’s wounds are “self-inflicted.”
“They went away from identify manufacturers, choosing in-house manufacturers. They ‘cluttered’ their stores. Competition in the house items sector elevated considerably. And, they borrowed an excessive amount of cash,” he said. “At the tip of the day, Bed, Bath & Beyond misplaced contact with their buyer, and administration hasn’t been capable of get it again.
“The turnaround plan isn’t pretty — cutting 20 percent of the workforce, closing another 150 stores, going back to name brands, borrowing more money. There is significant doubt if it will work without bankruptcy.”
Swanson mentioned the chain, amongst others, has lengthy struggled to maintain its bricks-and-mortar stores aggressive with on-line purchasing.
“Retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond, Party City, Tuesday Morning, etc., have been struggling for years trying to keep up with Amazon pricing/convenience while operating in large expensive retail footprints. COVID government aid masked those troubled, and bought time for these struggling, retailers,” he mentioned.
Further, Swanson mentioned, “Inflation has condensed consumer spending budgets dramatically. The ‘want products’ are the first to be eliminated to save for the necessities. The retail survivors and thrivers continue to be discount brands and grocers.”
Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has coated housing, building, industrial actual property and associated subjects for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999. Contact him at [email protected]. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize.Â
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