Bed Bath & Beyond closings to include LI store as retailer plans layoffs, cost cuts

Bed Bath & Beyond is starting to close down and liquidate 56 stores, including one in Farmingdale, as part of a wide-ranging turnaround plan, which the troubled retailer is betting will rekindle some of its lost appeal with U.S. shoppers.

The closings, many of which are happening in the Upper Midwest, New York and New Jersey, where its locations are more densely packed, are the first round of what will ultimately total about 150 stores.

Along with job cuts for 20% of its workforce, the changes are aimed at slashing costs at a business that has burned through cash and lost customers as it turned away from national brands. To stay afloat, it has paired the cuts with a new $500 million line of credit secured late last month that it plans to use in part to get back on good terms with suppliers.

Adding to the uncertainty, chief financial officer Gustavo Arnal died by suicide days after the company had laid out its turnaround plan to investors.

The company on Thursday published online the list of the stores that are set to be closed in the coming weeks.

"We will continue to review our portfolio where it makes sense to profitably support our customers and business," company spokeswoman Julie Strider said in an email.

The Bed Bath & Beyond in Farmingdale, one of nine now on Long Island, occupies a 26,846-square-foot space in Airport Plaza, according to the website of the shopping center's owner, Kimco Realty Corp.

It could not immediately be learned how many employees at that store will be affected.

More than 250 Bed Bath & Beyond stores have closed since 2015.

On Long Island, that included a store in Plainview in January this year, one in Manhasset in February 2021 and two others — in South Huntington and Inwood — in November 2018.

With Tory N. Parrish