This week, the retailer’s value was close to $550m. In August, the company took on more debt, after post-pandemic shoppers failed to materialize. A company that had not added debt to its balance sheet in two decades, took on $1.5bn in debt as shoppers moved online. At its peak in 2013, BB&B was valued at $17bn. Unlike many retailers, Bed Bath & Beyond had not been typical of retailers collapsing under competition from online retailers like Amazon. A month later, Bed Bath & Beyond’s former chief financial officer, Gustavo Arnal, died after jumping from a luxury skyscraper in Manhattan.īy then, the retailer’s stock had lost more than 70% of its value in the year, and the company said it was looking to turn things around with a strong holiday season.īut attempts to streamline its product line were complicated by pandemic bottlenecks, a lack of online investment, and frustrated consumers who had abruptly returned to in-person shopping only to find selections lacking. Last August, the party came to an end when Cohen announced plans to sell off his 9.8% stake in the company, making him $178m, and triggering a selloff among meme stock followers and allegations of a pump-and-dump scheme. Shares in GameStop have fallen 70% since January 2022, and AMC shares down down 82% over the same period. Other headline meme stocks that online traders used to punish hedge funds and other investors that were betting against them have also crashed to earth. Whether or not investors actually thought Bed Bath & Beyond was a solid business, or just saw an opportunity to pump up the price and then sell, is an open question. Online investors following the r/wallstreetbets forum on Reddit crowned Cohen as “ the meme king who will reign for 1,000 years” and piled in. While Wall Street analysts believed Amazon, Walmart and others would eat the retailer’s business, the company’s stock soared on a wave of enthusiasm last year after billionaire Ryan Cohen, the founder of online pet food company Chewy, bought more than 7m shares in the company. The Bed Bath & Beyond story, though, is a strange tale of the power and destruction of the internet. “A third of revenue has vanished, plunging an already beleaguered company into the depths of chaos,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData. In October, more than 40% of the retailer’s products were out of stock, twice the level in the first half of the year, as suppliers walked away. On Tuesday, the company reported losses of nearly $400m. Even this week’s rally – which took its shares to close to $5 – leaves its share price down 68% over the year. The company said last week it could enter chapter 11 bankruptcy within weeks, and has doubts it can stay in business after a quarter of deep losses and declining sales, causing its stock to drop more than 30%. Indeed, it does seem unlikely that Chelsea’s shoppers, or meme stock traders, can save Bed Bath & Beyond now. Another shopper said the company had “kind of screwed themselves”. “It was one hundred per cent a pump-and-dump started by the management,” Patel said. He said he’d followed Bed Bath & Beyond through its existential crisis. “It’s a great store, but at other locations, there’s almost no products on the shelves,” said Chintan Patel. Still, some shoppers were unsure about the company’s future. The company’s Chelsea store appears to be faring better than most, busy with shoppers browsing the aisles but with many items heavily discounted. This week, BB&B was foaming again, with its share price more than doubling over the week amid speculation on online stock forums, including Reddit, that it might be a potential acquisition target.
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