Yahoo News Bed Bath & Beyond's New CEO Wants to Declutter Stores
If you were looking for a particular home good product at Bed Bath & Beyond, you’d be able to find it and at least ten other styles of it in the store's ceiling-high aisles. But in the midst of the brick and mortar retail apocalypse, the company’s new CEO, Mark Tritton, wants to scale back the amount of merchandise it sells, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Tritton, who was a former executive at Target, joined Bed Bath & Beyond last November. When sales rose following a reduction in the number of can openers the stores sold, Tritton’s takeaway was that selling too many items in cluttered stores leads to “purchase paralysis,” according to TheWall Street Journal.
So Tritton plans on cutting inventory by more than 10 percent in 25 stores this year. Along with less merchandise, the stores will have wider aisles and more organized checkout lines. You’ll still be able to use your coupons, but Tritton plans on making pricing clearer by getting rid of overlapping promotions and using more signage. And by the end of the year, Tritton plans on having Wi-Fi and online pickups available in every store.
Despite weak sales during the holidays, the home goods company has the funds to make these changes. Last month, it sold and leased-back some of its real estate for $250 million, and this week it sold PeronalizationMail.com for $252 million. In a statement released on Tuesday, the retailer announced that it would spend about $350 million to $400 million to remodel its stores. It’ll also use that money to invest in IT and digital projects as well as supply chain infrastructure.
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