Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. Hires Retail Veteran John Welling To Lead Merchandise Planning Team

UNION, N.J., Nov. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBY) has named John Welling as Senior Vice President (SVP), Merchandise Planning, Allocation & Operations, effective immediately.  Mr. Welling will report to Joe Hartsig, Bed Bath & Beyond's Chief Merchandising Officer (CMO), and President of Harmon Health & Beauty Stores.

John Welling will be responsible for helping lead the transformation of Bed Bath & Beyond's inventory planning and replenishment strategy, a core pillar in the Company's strategic growth plan. This includes implementing enhanced merchandising processes and inventory systems to improve in-stock levels and turn times, end to end inventory management capabilities, product life cycle management, reporting tools and regional merchandising activities.  In addition, John will oversee the evolution of space and assortment planning to optimize merchandise in store, ensure a more consistent, high-quality customer experience, and support the recently announced store remodel program which includes investments of approximately $250 million over the next three years. 

Joe Hartsig said, "We're proud to serve one in five households across the country and we are building on our strong authority in the home market. John brings industry-leading experience in retail transformation, inventory management, merchandise planning and store operations, expertise that will help advance our foundational capabilities, improve the experience for our customers, and drive increased profitability across our assortment."

Mr. Welling joins Bed Bath & Beyond with decades of experience across the retail industry.  He was SVP for Planning and Allocation at JC Penney, before which he held senior merchandising, planning and operations roles at The Michaels Companies and Walmart, where he spent over 10 years in global leadership roles in inventory management and regional operations.  Prior to this, John spent more than a decade at Accenture, where he was a Partner in the North American Retail Practice, with responsibility for creating and implementing transformational change initiatives across the retail landscape. 

John Welling said, "This iconic brand has been integral to generations of people across North America, and I'm delighted to join Bed Bath & Beyond at a time when its role is more important than ever.  I'm excited to help establish new capabilities that unlock growth and build on the strong authority of this business in the home."

About Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and subsidiaries (the "Company") is an omnichannel retailer that makes it easy for our customers to feel at home. The Company sells a wide assortment of merchandise in the Home, Baby, Beauty and Wellness markets. Additionally, the Company is a partner in a joint venture which operates retail stores in Mexico under the name Bed Bath & Beyond.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the Company's progress and anticipated progress towards its long-term objectives. Many of these forward-looking statements can be identified by use of words such as may, will, expect, anticipate, approximate, estimate, assume, continue, model, project, plan, goal, and similar words and phrases, although the absence of those words does not necessarily mean that statements are not forward-looking. The Company's actual results and future financial condition may differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements as a result of many factors. Such factors include, without limitation: general economic conditions including the housing market, a challenging overall macroeconomic environment and related changes in the retailing environment; risks associated with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the governmental responses to it, including its impacts across the Company's businesses on demand and operations, as well as on the operations of the Company's suppliers and other business partners, and the effectiveness of the Company's actions taken in response to these risks; consumer preferences, spending habits and adoption of new technologies; demographics and other macroeconomic factors that may impact the level of spending for the types of merchandise sold by the Company; civil disturbances and terrorist acts; unusual weather patterns and natural disasters; competition from existing and potential competitors across all channels; pricing pressures; liquidity; the ability to achieve anticipated cost savings, and to not exceed anticipated costs, associated with organizational changes and investments, including the Company's strategic restructuring program; the ability to attract and retain qualified employees in all areas of the organization; the cost of labor, merchandise and other costs and expenses; potential supply chain disruption due to trade restrictions, and other factors such as natural disasters, such as pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, political instability, labor disturbances, product recalls, financial or operational instability of suppliers or carriers, and other items; the ability to find suitable locations at acceptable occupancy costs and other terms to support the Company's plans for new stores; the ability to establish and profitably maintain the appropriate mix of digital and physical presence in the markets it serves; the ability to assess and implement technologies in support of the Company's development of its omnichannel capabilities; the ability to effectively and timely adjust the Company's plans in the face of the rapidly changing retail and economic environment, including in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; uncertainty in financial markets; volatility in the price of the Company's common stock and its effect, and the effect of other factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, on the Company's capital allocation strategy; risks associated with the ability to achieve a successful outcome for its business concepts and to otherwise achieve its business strategies; the impact of intangible asset and other impairments; disruptions to the Company's information technology systems including but not limited to security breaches of systems protecting consumer and employee information or other types of cybercrimes or cybersecurity attacks; reputational risk arising from challenges to the Company's or a third party product or service supplier's compliance with various laws, regulations or standards, including those related to labor, health, safety, privacy or the environment; reputational risk arising from third-party merchandise or service vendor performance in direct home delivery or assembly of product for customers; changes to statutory, regulatory and legal requirements, including without limitation proposed changes affecting international trade; changes to, or new, tax laws or interpretation of existing tax laws; new, or developments in existing, litigation, claims or assessments; changes to, or new, accounting standards; and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update its forward-looking statements.

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SOURCE Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.