
PROVIDENCE – Bed, Bath & Beyond, one of the early tenants of Providence Place when the urban mall opened two decades ago, says it is closing its Providence store.
A spokesperson for the household goods retailer confirmed the store is closing in “late November” because the lease is ending. It was not immediately known how many people work at the location, which at 46,150 square feet is considered an anchor store even though it’s located on a lower level.
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Providence Place General Manager Mark Dunbar said he had no comment on Bed, Bath & Beyond’s departure. But he did add, “It’s an opportunity to fill [the vacant store] with something unique and different. The only thing you can count on in this business is change.”
Dunbar also said Bed, Bath & Beyond’s announcement was not related to the arrival of Boscov’s department store, which is set to open on Thursday in the anchor space that was previously occupied by Nordstrom. Boscov’s will sell similar household goods that Bed, Bath & Beyond sells now.
Bed, Beyond & Beyond stores are also located in Warwick, Middletown, Seekonk, North Attleborough, Raynham, Foxborough and North Dartmouth. There was no immediate word on other local closures; however, a sign at the store specified that the closure pertained to “this location only.”
In April, the retailer, which has about 1,500 stores in the U.S. and Canada, announced that it would be closing about 40 locations. The company has struggled in recent years as slowing revenue growth have made investors leery, particularly with increased competition both in the brick-and-mortar world and online. The share price has declined steadily from $76.78 a share in spring 2015 to $9.58 a share as of noon on Tuesday. Activist investors pushed for changes earlier this year, which led to the resignation of CEO Steven Temares in May.
In a letter to shareholders earlier this month, company executives outlined changes to improve Bed, Bath & Beyond’s financial performance, including a “rapid refresh” of about 160 stores before the holiday shopping season.
“We expect to be able to take advantage of our heavy lease expiration cadence over the next couple of years, to close underperforming stores or relocate stores to improve sales and profitability on a per-store basis,” said the letter, signed by Mary A. Winston, interim CEO, Patrick R. Gaston, board chairman.
The news has been mixed for Providence Place this week. Boscov’s, a family-owned department store chain, is set to open this week, but there have also been reports of two altercations between groups of young people in the mall that lead to arrests.
William Hamilton is PBN staff writer and special projects editor. You can follow him on Twitter @waham or email him at hamilton@pbn.com.