More pink slips at Bed Bath & Beyond

Bed Bath & Beyond continues to trim its workforce.

The struggling home goods retailer is laying off approximately 1,300 employees in its home state of New Jersey, according to WARN notices filed with the state. The scheduled layoffs include 572 workers in Port Reading, effective  March 28 and 84 workers in Secacus, who will be out of work as of April 5. On April 9, 377 employees the company’s Union headquarters will be laid off.

In addition, the company’s Harmon unit, will let go 262 employees, effective April 1.  At the end of January, Bed Bath & Beyond announced it planned to shutter its Harmons health and beauty store chain — about 50 locations in all  — as part of its latest round of store closings.

Harmon, which was founded in 1971, was acquired by Bed Bath & Beyond in 2002.  The stores sell a mix of health and beauty items, ranging from cosmetics and hair care to health care products such as vitamins and headache remedies.  A limited assortment of general merchandise items are also featured, including candy, paper goods and other household staples. The majority of Harmon stores are located in New Jersey and New York. 

Bed Bath & Beyond has been downsizing its footprint as it works to turn its ailing business around and avoid bankrutpcy.  In February, the retailer  said that, as it moves forward, it plans to pursue “asset-light” inventory management strategies to drive growth, including vendor-direct-to-consumer and marketplace sales, and will target “innovative collaborations.” It also plans to streamline its supply chain, technology, expense structure and business processes as it realigns operations.

“We are optimizing our store fleet and supply chain and continuing to invest in our omni-always capabilities,” stated CEO Sue Gove. “This will enable us to better serve our customers, and grow profitably, by directing merchandise where and how they want to shop with us. We are also prioritizing availability of leading national and emerging direct-to-consumer brands."

Earlier this month, the company said it received approximately  $135 million in gross proceeds from the exercise of preferred stock warrants that were issued as part of a public equity offeringconducted on Feb. 7. The offering has now produced total proceeds of $360 million

“Over the past month, we have been rebuilding our financial and operational positioning to execute our customer-focused turnaround plans,” said Gove.  “Since closing our equity financing last month, we have engaged with suppliers to improve our inventory positioning and we have continued to optimize our brick-and-mortar footprint through store closures to align with customer preference.”