Six and a half years after they opened, the Bed Bath & Beyond Store, and its associated buybuy BABY store on the Langey Bypass, are about go out of business, one of the company’s 54 Canadian stores (and 11 buybuy BABY stores) that will close.
READ ALSO: Bed Bath & Beyond Canada to close 54 stores, granted creditor protection
That’s according to reports the company has been granted an initial order for creditor protection by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
The order was filed Friday, Feb. 10, under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, court documents posted to the website of consulting firm Alvarex and Marsal show.
“The Bed Bath & Beyond Group has been in financial difficulty for the past several years, suffering significant net losses since 2018,” the documents stated, describing “dramatic declines in revenues” that “significantly worsened” in 2022.
Suppliers have tightened or refused credit, and some have refused to ship merchandise, the documents indicate.
U.S. parent company Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. has shut scores of its stores across the country and warned last month that it may need to file for bankruptcy protection as it was unable to pay back its loans.
It recently raised about $1 billion through offerings of preferred stock and warrants, which it said will be used to pay off debt.
READ ALSO: Bed Bath and Beyond CFO jumps to his death
However, “faced with extremely limited funding and significant constraints upon its use of cash, the Bed Bath & Beyond Group has reluctantly concluded that there is not enough capital available … to restructure both its business in the United States and properly resuscitate the Canadian business to achieve profitability,” the court document said.”
Canadian store are “not profitable on a standalone basis,” it said.
As a result, the company is “required to wind down its business in Canada” and intends to “effect an orderly liquidation of its remaining inventory with assistance from a third-party professional liquidator and vacate its leased retail stores and premises.”
As of Nov. 26, Bed Bath & Beyond Canada’s assets were valued at around $480.1 million, the documents show, while its total liabilities were worth around $429.7 million.
As of Jan. 31, the company employed approximately 387 full-time employees and 1,038 part-time workers in connection with its retail operations across Canada, according to the filing.
Langley Advance Times has reached out to the company for comment.
- with files from Canadian Press
Have a story tip? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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