Bed Bath & Beyond Closings: Will Maryland Locations Be Affected?

MARYLAND — Struggling housewares retailer Bed Bath & Beyond — known for selling every kind of kitchen gadget, bed linens, towels and home decor — will close about 40 stores this year while opening 15 "lab" stores offering more home decor and food products, the company said this week. The number of stores to be shuttered could increase if more favorable lease agreements can't be reached with some of its landlords, company officials said in a conference call.

During the call, company reps disclosed disappointing first-quarter sales. Based in New Jersey, the company also operates Buy Buy Baby and World Market.

Bed Bath & Beyond has not revealed which locations will be shuttered. The company has more than a thousand stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico, including 19 locations in Maryland:

• Annapolis
• Bel Air
• California
• Capitol Heights
• Columbia
• Frederick
• Gaithersburg
• Gambrills
• Germantown
• Hagerstown
• Hanover
• Ocean City
• Owings Mills
• Rockville
• Salisbury
• Towson
• Waldorf
• Westminster
• White Marsh

Brick and mortar retailers in Maryland continue to announce closings in 2019 with some citing poor holiday 2018 sales figures and others blaming debt loads for the shutdowns. We're less than four months into the year, and already several big-name retailers have announced their plans to shutter dozens of Maryland locations.

Chains closing up shop include clothing retailers, shoe stores, department stores and more.The bleak outlook for many chain retailers isn't new — in 2018 dozens of chains closed stores, including, most notably, Toys R Us and Sears.

SEE ALSO: Major Retailers Announce Dozens Of MD Store Closings In 2019

Eric Heyl, Patch Staff, contributed to this article