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02/22/2023 08:07 AMHome goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond has announced that it will close an additional 150 stores nationwide, with three more of its sites in Connecticut set to shut down within the next couple of months, including Guilford’s store. The Guilford establishment survived the first round of store closings late last year, but the company now says it will shutter the Guilford site in the coming months.
Bed Bath & Beyond’s upcoming closings also include stores in Manchester and Norwalk, according to public statements by the company. Closing signs with limited information have been erected at the Guilford store. This announcement follows planned shutdowns of Enfield, Hamden, Fairfield, Southington, Wethersfield, Stamford, and Wallingford locations.
Though the company has reportedly staved off bankruptcy for the time being, via a $225 million stock sale, in a filing earlier this month with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bed Bath & Beyond officials said that it planned to expand the number of nationwide store closings to more than 400 locations, “including closure of ... approximately 150 additional lower-producing Bed Bath & Beyond stores, which builds on closure of approximately 200 Bed Bath & Beyond stores and approximately 50 standalone Harmon stores in the U.S.”
The company’s 2022 Black Friday sales were reportedly down 33%, while the company reported a staggering $1.1 billion loss in the previous nine-month period, concluding at the end of November 2022. In a statement, the company said they are shedding store sites for both Bed Bath & Beyond and several other affiliate brands, which do not have a commercial presence in Connecticut while focusing on beefing up the e-tail division of the company.
“The company has initiated incremental store closures in its Bed Bath & Beyond banner with an ultimate operating goal of approximately 360 stores, in addition to approximately 120 buybuy BABY stores, across the U.S.,” the company said in a news release the week of Feb. 6. “In response to evolving shopping preferences today, this target store base includes the company’s most profitable locations and best geographic presence for customers that can enable an optimal omni-experience. The digital channel is expected to rise to a higher proportion of sales with improved channel profitability.”
None of the announced closing dates have been finalized, but employees at the Guilford store said they are being told that the site is set to close sometime in March.
This closing of a home goods retailer comes on the heels of last year’s Walmart closing in Guilford, which has yet to attract another business to the site, despite initial interest from several national home goods chains.
Economic Development Director Sheri Cote expressed disappointment in the closure but said the store’s site is a very attractive one. With the closure of Walmart last year, Cote has been in contact with several large retailers, and though the new tenant search is only in the initial stages, said she thinks that finding another tenant would likely not be a protracted process.
“We’ve been reading about this company’s financial issues for several months, so this was a possibility, but we are sad to see them go,” Cote said. “I’ve been working with the property owners of the previous Walmart space for some time now. I am definitely aware of interested retailers that would like to come to Guilford. I see this as an opportunity, that if they can’t fit into the former Walmart space, maybe this might be a good opportunity. There are two brand new businesses that have just moved in in the last few months, T-Mobile and F-45 Training just moved in there. With Panera there, it is very popular, if you go up there any time…they are all busy. It’s a really attractive site. Being located right off the highway, it doesn’t get any easier as far as access.”
Though no tenant has yet announced plans to take over the former Walmart site, the Planning and Zoning Commission is expected to approve a proposal for a stand-alone bank building to be constructed in the parking of the Walmart space at their next meeting on March 1.
“Chase Bank is seeking approval for their stand-alone building in the parking lot there. That will enhance the shopping plaza as a whole with a new business there and be driving some traffic, but in terms of a new retailer for the Walmart space, there is nothing to report yet, but there are still several companies that are expressing interest,” said Cote.
Chase Bank has presented its proposal for a special permit required for the site and has submitted a site plan. The project seeks to construct a 2,990-square-foot structure in the large front lot of the former Walmart location along the Boston Post Road side of the lot.
The building would mirror the basic layout and frontage of the Bank of America located at the adjoining property at 916 Boston Post Road.
Elsewhere in town, a Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru is still expected to be constructed at 1438 Boston Post Road. The plan includes two separate buildings, a 1,850-square-foot space for the business, and another 1,600-square-foot site for a retail space that includes a two-bedroom 1,000-square-foot apartment above it, according to Cote.
Boston Post Road will also see another project, a large-scale 150,000-square-foot proposal for a sports complex, multi-family housing, and a stand-alone medical building, including indoor and outdoor sports fields and a restaurant, on the property across from the Tractor Supply.
“This is a very exciting project for the west end of Route 1,” Cote said. “Inland Wetlands just approved their application, and to me, that is really exciting.”