Bed Bath & Beyond turns off air conditioners in stores to save money: Report

Bed Bath & Beyond is making their customers and employees sweat these days.

The struggling household goods chain — which posted a sharp drop in sales last quarter — is rejecting air conditioners in its stores in an effort to cut costs, according to Bank of America analysts who visited the stores.

Besides lowering the thermostat, the company has cut its employees’ hours and canceled remodeling projects, according to the report.

“From our store visits, we believe Bed Bath & Beyond is trying to cut expenses quickly to align costs [sales] ‘, according to a Bank of America report. The report also claims that the chain will reduce store hours in July when opening times are pushed to 11 a.m. from 10 a.m.

The retailer denied being burdened with utility costs.

“We have been contacted about this report and, to be clear, no Bed Bath & Beyond stores have been directed to modify air conditioning and there have been no changes in company policy regarding use of the facilities,” the company told The Post on Tuesday. .

In April, Bed Bath & Beyond reported that its sales fell 22% in the last quarter ended February 26. Management has blamed supply chain crises for a dearth of products in its 771 US stores.

The company was under pressure to sell itself or to make material changes to its business. In March, I underwent the activist investor pressure From billionaire Ryan Cohen – who founded and sold Chewy.com for $3.3 billion – adding three new directors to its board

Wall Street doesn’t expect things to improve when the company reports second-quarter results on Wednesday.

“It’s no surprise that they might be looking at additional ways to save money, because sales trends aren’t working in their favour,” said M Science analyst John Tomlinson. “Our data looks very negative” for the company and “obviously people expect poor sales tomorrow.”

Other troubling developments for the New Jersey-based union include the recent resignations of chief accounting officer John Parisi and senior vice president of financial planning Heather Plotino.