Bed Bath & Beyond, a well-known retail giant in the home furnishing and decor sector, has recently filed for bankruptcy. I have spent 3 months analyzing their decision milestones, and these are the lessons I have learned. Failure to adapt to e-commerce In a market filled with shoppers wanting to order from the comfort of their couches, Bed, Bath and Beyond postponed their e-commerce beyond logic and reason. This allowed their competitors to capture their rapidly growing market without any resistance. Overexpansion of physical stores Adding fuel to the fire of letting go of their online consumers, Bed, Bath and Beyond invested in the expansion of their brick-and-mortar stores. This expansion put enormous stress on their finances. Wrong timing on the share buyback Their CEO’s decision to buy back shares from the market after investing in the expansion of brick-and-mortar stores came at the wrong time. They were crunched for cash. Lack of product differentiation and quality When Bed, ...
