Bed Bath & Beyond Updates COVID-19 Response

May 11, 2020  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry   

On April 24, 2020, the company extended the temporary closure of all its retail banner stores across the U.S. and Canada, other than its buybuy BABY and Harmon Face Values stores, until at least May 16, 2020. 

Based on the latest guidance from federal, state and local government and health authorities, Bed Bath & Beyond is providing Buy-Online-Pick-Up-In-Store (BOPIS) and contactless curbside delivery services to customers at a number of store locations across the U.S. and Canada. 

"At a time when our homes have become the center of our lives, Bed Bath & Beyond has been meeting the everyday needs of our customers and making it easy to feel at home,” said Mark Tritton, president and CEO. “We're expanding our network of contactless curbside locations, so even more of our customers can conveniently buy online and pick up at store in just a few hours.” 

The company plans to further expand these store fulfillment services, and to initiate a phased approach to fully re-open a number of stores, subject to state and local regulations. It expects the majority of stores across its retail banners to remain closed to the public until at least May 30, 2020. The approach to re-opening stores will include the following measured steps: 

• Expand BOPIS and contactless curbside pickup services to at least 200 additional locations, taking the total number of locations that offer these services to approximately 750 stores, or approximately 50% of the Company's total store fleet across the U.S. and Canada. 
• Continue to expand its fulfilment capabilities to support increased demand across its digital channels, enabling the company to ship online orders in two days or less on average, or make orders available for pick-up in less than two hours for customers using BOPIS and contactless curbside services. 
• In addition to its BABY and Harmon stores that have remained open to provide essential goods throughout this period, the company intends to gradually re-open its other retail banner stores to the public, starting with approximately 20 stores, including its Bed Bath & Beyond and Christmas Tree Shops stores, by May 22, subject to state and local regulations. 
• Implement a new Store Safety Plan to promote a safe shopping experience across all stores scheduled to re-open to customers, enhancing existing safety protocols across its operations. 

"As we initiate our store re-opening plans, we continue to prioritize the health and safety of our associates and customers,” added Tritton. “To help ensure our customers can shop safely with confidence, we are implementing a new Store Safety Plan enhancing our existing protocols and based on the latest guidance from federal, state and local government and health authorities. Our strong financial flexibility and liquidity allows us to take this measured, market-by-market approach to re-opening stores. We will only open our doors to the public when we believe it is safe to do so, while carefully managing costs and monitoring performance as we scale up our operations over time. This approach allows us to continue to make strategic investments in our digital and fulfilment capabilities to build an omni-always shopping experience for our loyal customers.”  

Tritton concluded, "I want to thank all our teams for their dedication and commitment throughout this time and we look forward to welcoming back associates as stores begin to re-open to the public in the coming weeks."

The introduction of contactless curbside services and the measured approach to re-opening stores to the public is taking place at locations already providing regional fulfilment services, leveraging existing labor to limit the exposure to additional costs. In conjunction with the decision to further extend temporary store closures, Bed Bath & Beyond will also extend the furlough of the majority of store associates and a portion of corporate associates until at least May 30, 2020. The company will continue to pay 100% of the cost of healthcare premiums for all furloughed associates who currently participate in the company's health plan, until further notice.