Bed Bath & Beyond to Close 200 Stores

As families and business across the United States have felt the wrath of the coronavirus pandemic, Bed Bath & Beyond is forced to close 200 of their stores due to financial loss. While the popular retail chain also owns Buybuy Baby, Christmas Tree Shops and Harmon Face Values, they're only focusing on shutting down Bed Bath & Beyond stores. The company intends to start the new closures later this year.

"The impact of the Covid-19 situations was felt across our business during our fiscal first quarter," Bed Bath & Beyond Chief Executive Mark Tritton said according to CNN. "Including loss of sales due to temporary store closures." With all of their stores included, they are over 1,478 with 955 being Bed Bath & Beyond stores. Before their first quarter ended on May 31, they already closed 21 locations. Moving forward, the company has not specified which stores will be closing.

Like many other companies in the U.S., Bed Bath & Beyond was forced to temporarily close due to COVID-19, however, prior to the pandemic, the company was already in trouble. At the beginning of the year in January, the company failed to meet its previous financial targets with Tritton calling it "unsatisfactory." In response to this and the pandemic, their closures will also be their effort to improve the company as a whole. Their reconstructing plan will help "rebuild and grow the business." "We believe Bed Bath & Beyond will emerge from this crisis even stronger, given the strength of our brand, our people and our balance sheet," Tritton said.

Another popular chain that plans on closing stores is Dunkin'. The company made a recent announcement that said they anticipated ending their business with Speedway gas stations by the end of the year. "Very few of the approximately 450 Speedway-owned and operated limited menu Dunkin' locations have closed to date, and we remain on track to exit Speedway by the end of 2020," Michelle King, a Dunkin' brand spokeswoman said according to USA Today.

While this may be the case, their plan is to actually expand their business through their menu and style. As Starbucks continues to dominate the morning drive, Dunkin' intends to expand their menu and provide a more modern style for its customers as they continue to grow their popularity. "By exiting these sites, we are confident we will be better positioned to serve these trade areas with Dunkin's newest Next Generation restuarant design that offers a broader menu and modern experience."