Moscow’s Bed Bath & Beyond to close

This month, Bed Bath & Beyond officially announced it is closing its Moscow location.

On Thursday, the store that has been located in the Palouse Mall since 2007 was advertising discounts as part of a closing sale.

The company is shutting down more than 200 Bed Bath and Beyond stores across the U.S., as well as nearly 50 Harmon stores.

According to a Feb. 7 news release, these changes are part of the company’s “turnaround plan.”

Its ultimate goal is to operate 360 stores in addition to 120 of its buybuy BABY stores in the U.S.

“In response to evolving shopping preferences today, this target store base includes the Company’s most profitable locations and best geographic presence for customers that can enable an optimal omni-experience,” it said in a statement. “The digital channel is expected to rise to a higher proportion of sales with improved channel profitability.”

According to a Thursday article from Bloomberg.com, the company has been heading toward bankruptcy after months of double-digit percentage drops in sales.

Bed Bath & Beyond executives told suppliers the company has secured in a recent equity offering in order to get more products into stores after shelves have been sparse for some time because the company has struggled to pay manufacturers, according to the article.

“While we think that that will be the necessary funding to fund the turnaround, it isn’t all here right now,” interim Chief Financial Officer Holly Etlin said. “It came in — a small amount up front — and then $100 million a month over the next few months until we get up to the committed amount.”

The equity offering will potentially allow it to raise as much as $1 billion over time, according to the Bloomberg.com article.

Some suppliers say the equity offering could buy Bed Bath & Beyond more time, but it is still likely in need of restructuring, according to the article. Some suppliers may be hesitant to maintain accounts because the company has been short on cash and is unable to meet upfront payment requests.

However, Steve Greenspon, chairperson of the International Housewares Association trade group, believes vendors will seize the opportunity to sell to Bed Bath & Beyond because it remains a major retailer, even after closing a number of stores with more to close in the future.

No closing date for the Moscow location was provided.