BofA Accuses Bed Bath & Beyond Of Cutting AC To Save Money

Bank of American has accused struggling retailer Bed Bath & Beyond of cutting off air conditioning in stores in order to quickly lower expenses amid a slump in sales.

The company hit back, however, telling CNN that any changes in store temperature didn’t come from corporate.

“We’ve been contacted about this report, and to be clear, no Bed Bath & Beyond stores were directed to adjust their air conditioning and there have been no corporate policy changes in regard to utilities usage,” a spokesperson said.

After conducting in-person store visits, however, BofA analysts reported “mounting concerns” over significant cuts in employee hours, scaled back utilities, reduced operating hours, and remodeling projects which have been canceled.

What’s more, the company’s rewards program has been scaled back and replaced.

All of this has led the Bank of America analysts to predict that Bed Bath & Beyon will soon announce more closures, as well as a halt to its Buy Buy Baby stores.

Meanwhile, analysts at Riley Securities noted that sales promotions have also fallen flat, along with a decrease in store traffic – causing them to reduce their price target from $17 to $7.