Bed Bath & Beyond to re-stock shelves with $120M vendor consignment program

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As part of its ongoing turnaround effort, Bed Bath & Beyond is launching a new vendor consignment program to get merchandise back on the shelves.

Under the agreement announced April 5, ReStore Capital – a credit-focused investment manager owned by Hilco Global – will buy up to $120 million of merchandise from the company’s key suppliers to supplement inventory levels already sold at Bed Bath & Beyond and BuyBuy Baby.

After Bed Bath & Beyond’s vendors tightened credit terms, cut limits and required pre-payments before agreeing to fulfill orders, the Union-based home goods retailer has had trouble keeping its stores stocked.

Bed Bath & Beyond Chief Executive Officer and President Sue Gove said the new vendor consignment program “enables us to increase our inventory position in top items that customers are buying and improve the customer experience.”

She went on to describe it as a “capital-light solution” that will enable the company “to strengthen merchandise availability and better fulfill demand.”

The announcement comes less than a week after Bed Bath & Beyond revealed plans to sell up to $300 million of stock and use the capital for strategic initiatives in 2023, such as investing in merchandise inventory, increasing store footprint and realigning cost structure. It also warned that it will likely file for bankruptcy protection if the last-ditch equity offering fails.

Although Bed Bath & Beyond has attempted to improve its financial footing over the past several months, the retailer continues to struggle.

In addition to layoffs and store closures, Gove said the company has been working with suppliers to boost inventory levels, as well as paying off outstanding interest payments.

“We remain relentless in executing plans that can help us overcome near-term operational and financial challenges,” the CEO said in her April 5 statement.

She added, “The support we are seeing from our top supplier partners demonstrates the staying power of our brands and our potential for sustainable improvement. We know the performance and value of our business today is not representative of our full potential. Our entire organization is focused on expanding and accelerating improvement. We are doing what we must to sustain our business immediately and unlock our true value over the long-term – for all stakeholders.”