Bed Bath & Beyond is bullish

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 6/28/2007 12:38:00 PM

Union, N.J. – Dominant big box home furnishings retailer Bed Bath & Beyond was “disappointed” to fall “just short” of achieving its quarterly financial goals, the company said in its first-quarter earnings call Wednesday evening.

BBB reported net earnings of $0.38 per diluted share in the fiscal first quarter ended June 2. The figure was at the high end of the downward-revised projection that the company had issued earlier in the month, and was up 8.6% from earnings of $0.35 for the same period one year ago.

Net sales for the quarter of were $1.55 billion, up 11.3% from net sales of $1.40 billion last year.

Comparable store gains were anemic, at 1.6%. In the 2006 first quarter, comps rose 4.9%.

Warren Eisenberg, co-chairman, blamed “a challenging retail environment, specifically for home-related products,” but said 821-unit BBB is optimistic about its near- and long-term future.

“We believe our company, with its market share at an all-time high, continues to distance itself from our competitors,” he said. “We’re stronger today than ever and remain confident in the ever-growing success of our business.”

During the call, the company announced it had recently signed a lease for its first store outside of the United States. This BBB unit will be located in Canada’s Ontario province – specifically in greater Toronto’s Richmond Hill area.

BBB expects to open some 70 new BBB units and four new Christmas Tree Shops this year. It also plans to “substantially complete” its 700,000-square-foot Christmas Tree Shops distribution center, and to open new buybuyBaby and Harmon stores.