Bed & Beyond Q3 continues the retailer’s digital update

Driven again by strong growth in its digital business but also impressive results in key sectors such as Bed, Bath and Kitchen Bath & Beyond he continued to back through his third quarter which ended in mid Black Friday weekend.

Focusing on their brand name, the company recorded a 94% growth in their online business and 11% of comp sales profits in what they called the “5 top destinations” of home organization, kitchen food preparation, bedding, bath and interior decoration. They represented two-thirds of BBB sales in the quarter, the company said.

Bed Bath results outperformed the company as a whole but did not stop a 15% company-wide physical store reduction and a 61-share loss in adjusted EBITDA earnings on a GAAP basis. While combined comp sales grew 2%, the company’s total sales for the quarter fell 5% at least partially reflecting the movement of several smaller units and the start of a store closure program that will reduce the stores named Bed Bath & Beyond all. with about a fifth down to about 800.

But the achievement of his headline was particularly encouraging for CEO Mark Tritton, who celebrated his first year in office last November and who has led a major re-creation from top to bottom. salesman. With the sale of Christmas Tree Stores and Cost Plus World Market segments over the past three months, the company has put the main focus on their biggest flagship.

“When we focus on this part of the package, look at what we can achieve,” he told Forbes.com in an interview just before the earnings report was released. “That’s the strong message we want to get out.”

BBB is currently testing new store formats in the Houston market, with three different levels from a complete upgrade to a mild upgrade. Tritton said “it is still early days but we expect the results to be clearer out of our fourth quarter. “On tap for the 2021 calendar are 150 store resellers that will display Houston test results and replace them for the ’21 holidays. Already the visual merchant tokens from Houston tests are expected to be distributed on along the chain with the first quarter of the company in the spring.

That’s also when customers see one of Tritton’s leading private branding ventures. Details are still underfoot but he outlined how to deal with the company’s largest merchandise division, which is bedridden, as well as other product areas.

While Q3 did not cover most of the 2020 holiday buying season, Tritton said the company expected positive comp sales numbers for December for what they call “the campaign complete ”which includes Bed Bath & Beyond, BuyBuyBaby, Harmon Face Values ​​and Decorist. Total sales are expected to be lower with the trends, store closures and continued delays in consumers visiting outlets.

With increased cash flow, better liquidity and higher marginal returns Tritton said the third quarter showed “consistent performance of our growth strategy is delivering better financial performance and we delivered the second quarter after combination of relative sales and profit growth. ”