(John Ransom, Headline USA) One year after giving the boot to Trump supporter Mike Lindell’s MyPillow in their stores because of politics, Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBBY) has lost $100 million over inventory they can’t stock and is closing 37 stores nationwide.
“As previously announced,” a Bed Bath & Beyond spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Yahoo Finance a year ago, “we have been rationalizing our assortment to discontinue a number of underperforming items and brands. This includes the MyPillow product line.”
But Lindell, who said the decision by BBBY to stop selling MyPillow was driven by left-wing politics, not demand, may have the last laugh as the home retailer faces an existential threat over inventory problems.
It started with cancel culture of My Pillow.Many will never go back to BB and B..I’m one..
A Bed Bath & Beyond inventory overhaul during the Covid-19 pandemic ended up frustrating shoppers https://t.co/CP095MhjrS— Jimmy Burke (@jimmyburketx) January 30, 2022
“37 stores located in 19 states will shutter, most by the end of February,” BBBY told USAToday recently. “The locations are currently going through store closing liquidation sales.”
BBBY missed analysts’ expectations for both revenues and earnings according to CNBC in the third quarter, with the company’s CEO blaming the misses on “supply chain bottlenecks” that made it impossible to meet demand for goods.
BBBY Chief Executive Officer Mark Tritton said the company is trying to improve its inventory but warned progress would be tough if supply chain issues weren’t fixed.
“We are working with our vendors to target constrained inventory and improve flow to [distribution centers] and stores,” said Tritton, according to CNBC. “We must enhance our ability to fulfill our store demand.”
The company’s stock has been hammered as a consequence, trading at $16.60 off of a 52-week high of $44.51, according to Yahoo Finance.
Wells Fargo analyst Zachary Fadem has warned that the company’s cash is “dangerously low” at a time that the company needs cash to turn things around, said CNBC.
Fadem joins nine other analysts who have cut their full year projection for BBBY according to Zack’s Equity Research.
“Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond are down 34% over the past one-year period,” Zacks noted in January, “and the stock may continue to experience even more wild ups and downs as the supply chain crisis lingers. Potential investors should proceed with caution.”
And maybe “super-caution” as the stock has deteriorated further since the Zack’s report.
