Beyond Bed Bath & Beyond’s Dog Sale

WSJ says BB&B’s “rollercoaster” market ride with price per share plummeting was caused after key investor dumped big bet on it & cashed in run up he helped drive. But retailer was already “bleeding” customers & cash…

Hello. I’m one of the disillusioned customers after recent visits to the BB&B’s outlets near my home. Now, I’m just one customer. But, if others were seeing the same changes in product offerings & customer service, maybe we shouldn’t be as surprised about the company’s growing financial troubles, at least, not as much as the blind-sided investors, some of whom were apparently suckered this week into a dog stock turned juggernaut turned dog again. As the WSJ notes, it was billionaire investor Ryan Cohen, who co-founded online pet-products Chewy, “took a large stake in BB&B earlier this year and pushed for changes” only to suddenly on Wednesday announce he was selling his entire 10% stake in the company. Predictably, the stock plunged back down to earth.

Still, BB&B had warned in June that sales were continuing its down trend and was running low on cash while operating without a permanent CEO. Meanwhile, a huge corporate debt from earlier over-expansion weighed heavily upon reform efforts. Loop Capital was one broker warning clients recent store checks showed the chain remained out of stock on a large selection of items & was heavily discounting its over-stocked private-label merchandise, no doubt not helped by its once lucrative ties to “Shark Tank” & its start-up mania. Tell me about it. And tell Mr. Wonderful to cash in now before he gets sued by angry investors for constantly singing BB&B’s praises on tv.

Davd Soul