Bed Bath and Beyond is struggling to keep staff leaving before their store closes and has been forced to offer bonuses.
The retail industry in Illinois faces enormous challenges as chains continue to announce store closures. Major chains are closing their stores across the state as their customers move to online shopping.
Now they are facing another issue- staff quitting before the store closes.
Let's take a look at this developing story.
Bed Bath & Beyond stores in Illinois closing in 2023
416 Bed Bath & Beyond-owned stores in the U.S. will close in 2023 due to financial issues. Eighteen of these are in Illinois.
- Gurnee: Gurnee Mills Mall, 6132 Grand Ave.
- Schaumburg: 915 East Golf Road
- Fairview Heights: Fairview Center, 6611 N. Illinois
- Champaign: Market View Shopping Center, 63 E. Marketview Drive
- Carbondale: University Mall, 1265 E. Main St.
- Joliet: 2850 Plainfield Road
- Vernon Hills: 413 Milwaukee Ave Suite 300
- Bourbonnais: 2056 North State Route 50
- Quincy: 5110 Broadway St.
- Wilmette: 3232 Lake Ave., Suite 125
- Geneva: 1584 South Randall Rd.
- Crystal Lake: 5786 Northwest Highway
- Chicago Ridge: 9650 S Ridgeland Avenue
- Forest Park: 215 Harlem Avenue
- Normal: 1700 East College Avenue
- Peoria: 4800 North University Street
- Kildeer: 20505 N. Rand Road
- Springfield: 3251 S. Veterans Parkway.
No closing date for the stores was announced, which has led to uncertainty for staff who will be losing their jobs.
Beyond Problems
There has been little incentive for staff to continue to work at one of the stores set to close, as Bed Bath & Beyond is not offering severance payments. Therefore staff in many stores quit before their store's liquidation process was complete.
To try and combat this move, Bed Bath and Beyond are now offering bonuses for staff who stay with the stores until they officially close for good.
The bonuses are reputed to be:
- $500 for hourly workers
- $1,000 for supervisors
- $1,750 for assistant managers
- $2,250 for store managers
One Bed Bath and Beyond employee told Insider:
"I don't think it was out of the goodness of their heart. They were losing a lot of people."
However, it remains to be seen whether these new bonus payments will be enough to incentivize staff to stay or if they will continue to quit to find new jobs. On Thursday, in a filing to the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission Thursday, the business admitted challenges with retaining store personnel posed a material risk to its business.
They are also seeking to raise $300 million through an at-the-market share offering and have warned that if the full amount isn't raised, it “will likely force us to file for bankruptcy protection,”
For the latest list of all stores closing in Illinois, please check out this article. To keep up to date with the latest retail and business developments, make sure to follow me.
Your thoughts
Should workers who lose their job due to store closures be given bonuses? Do you believe Bed Bath and Beyond made a wrong decision by not offering severance payments? Are you concerned about the number of retail stores closing in Illinois? Should the government provide financial support for struggling retail businesses or laid-off workers?
Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below and share this article on social media and with others so more people can join the discussion.
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