Bed Bath & Beyond saw a 26% drop in net sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2021 ending Aug. 28, compared to the same three-month period in 2020, the company reported on Thursday (Sept. 30) in its quarterly earnings release.
Comparable sales were down 1% compared to the previous year, largely because of slower-than-expected traffic in August across both stores and digital platforms. The Bed Bath & Beyond brand dipped 4% in Q2, while buybuy BABY grew by a high-teens percentage. That includes double-digit growth both in-store and online.
“While our results this quarter were below expectations, we remain confident in our multi-year transformation,” said Mark Tritton, Bed Bath & Beyond’s president and CEO, in the company announcement.
The emergence of the delta variant of the coronavirus sparked increasing fears among consumers, Tritton said, and that led to troublesome results in some of the company’s largest states, including Florida, Texas and California.
“Our buybuy BABY banner continued to build on its positive momentum from the past several quarters, growing double digits due to strength in apparel and travel gear and increasing market share for the period,” he said. “We also celebrated the July reopening of our Bed Bath & Beyond banner’s New York City flagship store in Chelsea as part of our comprehensive store remodel program, which is exceeding our expectations.”
Bed Bath & Beyond is continuing to push forward in its partnership with Ryder to clean up supply chain and delivery issues, Tritton said.
The company’s core sales were down 11% in the quarter, in large part because of issues with fleet optimization, a nod to the supply chain problems that are hampering industries around the world. “We are well-positioned to continue our planned investments in our business and pave the way toward a more profitable future,” said Tritton. “We have the plan, the team and the resources to unlock our potential.”
Related news: Bed Bath & Beyond Expands DoorDash Partnership
Last week, Bed Bath & Beyond announced it will offer on-demand delivery of home goods from more than 700 Bed Bath & Beyond stores and about 120 buybuy BABY locations through an expanded nationwide partnership with DoorDash covering more than 60,000 products.
Bed Bath & Beyond is the first home retailer and buybuy BABY is the first baby goods purveyor available on DoorDash’s app and website.
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