Dive Brief:

• Bed Bath & Beyond is laying off about 1,300 workers in New Jersey, according to WARN notices filed with the state.

• In Port Reading, 572 people will be let go as of Tuesday; 84 in Secaucus as of April 5; and 377 in Union as of April 9. The company’s Harmon beauty retailer will also lay off 262 as of April 1, per the notice. 

• The retailer said by email that the layoffs are part of its strategy announced in February, which entails having "a smaller and more profitable store footprint and omni-always model. The difficult but necessary decision to reduce our workforce is one of many important actions we are taking to enable Bed Bath & Beyond to improve our financial position and serve our customers well into the future."

Dive Insight:

Bed Bath & Beyond’s Harmon discount beauty business once seemed to have potential in the booming, though highly competitive, beauty segment. In previous quarters, including Q4 of 2021 and Q1 of 2022, the unit saw positive growth. In 2021, the company brought on a Macy’s veteran to help drive growth in that business.

But the company has decided to pull the plug, announcing in January that it would close all Harmon stores.

Although the home goods retailer hasn’t yet approached a bankruptcy court, despite high expectations that it would, it has been taking several steps to drastically downsize, if not entirely wind down, its operations. In addition to the Harmon closures, the company last year announced 150 store closures and 87 more in January. Eventually, Bed Bath & Beyond will have reduced the footprint of its namesake banner to about 360 locations, down from about 771 a year ago.

Earlier this year the company worked to garner about $1 billion in additional funding to help keep it afloat as it reorganized. Last week it proposed a reverse stock split to help keep its share price in compliance with stock exchange rules.