IOWA will allegedly have one Bed Bath & Beyond in the entire state after mass store closures around the country.
This last physical store is located in Clive on University Avenue.
The news comes after the retailer announced closings around Iowa in Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Davenport, and Sioux City, per the Des Moines Register.
A spokesperson for Bed Bath & Beyond told the publication the Coralville location is closing on March 1.
As for the other closings in the state, no dates have been provided by the struggling company as of yet.
"Store closing sales will commence and continue over the next few weeks and months," the spokesperson said.
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As The U.S. Sun previously reported, the Iowa closings are part of around 150 that were previously announced to take place around the United States.
The larger goal for the company is to reduce its 950 store locations from 2022 to only 360 this year.
Bed Bath & Beyond had previously closed Iowa locations in West Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Dubuque, and Waterloo as well.
Signs of trouble for the retail chain have been everywhere since the New Year.
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The company has been facing a looming debt crisis and is continuing to fight against having to do so.
It was reported that they intend to raise more than $1 billion in funding through a public stock offering.
They've raised about $225 million thus far, with about $800 million left to go.
After defaulting on its credit line with JPMorgan in January, Bed Bath & Beyond likely seeks to use the funds to pay debts.
Iowa University law professor, Diane Lourdes Dick, told the Des Moines Register that the share sale Bed Bath & Beyond is trying to make will not help the company in the long run.
"[The share sale] is a lifeline," Dick said.
"It can alleviate their immediate distress, but it isn't addressing the underlying issues that have put the company into the position that it's in."
Columbia University law professor Edward Morrison also told the publication that the share sale decision is "really unusual."
"It's rare for a highly distressed firm to raise equity. And keep in mind that Bed Bath and Beyond is not just a distressed firm ― that its major lender has declared default," he explained.
"Usually that means that a bankruptcy filing is highly probable in the coming weeks. So to see a firm issue equity at this moment is really unusual."
Additionally, on February 2, Bed Bath & Beyond brought on Holly Etlin as the interim CFO for the company.
Despite the change-up, many analysts like Jaime Katz of Morningstar don't think this will make much of a difference in the company's current financial situation.
"While Etlin brings years of turnaround experience to the table, we feel the company is too late in putting such talent in key roles, particularly given the consumer’s willingness to spend in the home furnishing category and the overarching macroeconomic climate," she noted.
Not to mention, Iowa isn't the only state losing Bed Bath & Beyond.
California is losing eight locations, Florida will lose six, and Michigan will drop five stores.
OH, CANADA
The news in Iowa also comes as the retailer is going completely out of business in Canada.
According to a court filing from Friday, the Canadian division, which operates 54 Bed Bath & Beyond stores and 11 Buy Buy Baby stores, is reportedly insolvent.
The filing posted on the website of consultancy Alvarez & Marsal said they don't have the "capacity or ability to independently effect a recapitalization or restructuring of the Canadian operations without access to cash and the support."
It also stated that Bed Bath & Beyond's retail operations across Canada had 387 full-time and 1,038 part-time employees.
The Canadian division had a net loss of $99.5 million for the nine-month period ending November 26, 2022.
Buy Buy Baby Canada had assets worth $52.7 million and liabilities of about $86.9 million.
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For more on retail, check out The U.S. Sun's coverage of how Walmart confirmed yet another permanent store closure amidst the ongoing "retail apocalypse."
The U.S. Sun also has the story of a major update in the self-checkout battle, as many retail chains have blasted a proposed change.
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