US retailer Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy as turnaround fails

US housewares retailer Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 in New Jersey after struggling to restructure debt, putting thousands of jobs on the line. 

The company estimated it had assets of $4.4 billion and total debt of $5.2 billion as of late November, according to a court filing. The number of creditors is between 25,001 and 50,000, with BNY Mellon having the biggest unsecured claim of $1.18 billion. Bed Bath & Beyond’s chief financial officer, Holly Etlin, will serve as chief restructuring officer to manage the bankruptcy. 

The Union, New Jersey-based company’s crisis spiraled this year, starting in January when it said there was “substantial doubt” about its ability to keep operating and it was weighing options to restructure its debts. Later that month, it received a default notice from JPMorgan Chase after breaching terms on a credit line. 

The retailer received a last-minute lifeline from the hedge fund Hudson Bay Capital Management — a deal that would have given Bed Bath & Beyond over $1 billion under certain conditions. But the company failed to meet stock-price minimums, and the deal was terminated. Bed Bath & Beyond then said it would sell more shares in an effort to stave off a filing.  In 2022, the company embarked on a turnaround effort that gave it a $375 million rescue loan as it shuttered some stores and cut roughly 20 per cent of its workforce.