Bed Bath & Beyond Bankruptcy: What It Means For Illinois Stores

If you just thought to yourself "Wait a minute! I still have a giant stack of those 20% off postcard-shaped coupons from Bed Bath & Beyond! They can't close!" You might want to think about using those things before it's too late.

Nothing is certain, but the already troubled retailer just found itself in a even worse situation--and admits that it might not get out of this one. If Bed Bath & Beyond can't get things straightened out, Illinois BB&B shoppers may soon see things like this:

And this.

There Are Around 24 Bed Bath & Beyond Stores In Illinois, And 6 Of Them Were Already Slated To Be Closed Forever--A Potential Bankruptcy For BB&B Might Mean Closure For All Illinois Stores

Last year, BB&B secured financing in the amount of $500 million and immediately began shutting down what they called underperforming stores, which amounts to about 20% of all their stores.

Now, after losing $385.8 million the previous quarter, BB&B says that there's "serious doubt" it can continue on after suffering a massive decline in sales.

Illinois BB&B Shoppers, Here's What The Experts Say Could Happen, And What You Should Do About It

Just to be clear, when I say "what you should do about it," I don't mean that you should think about offering the company a few bucks to get themselves back in shape. I mean that you should, assuming you have them lying around, use those 20% off coupons before you're told that you can't.

If bankruptcy is declared by BB&B, it also means that Illinois employees, along with their counterparts across the country, are going to be looking for work, and the company is going to start closing out existing inventory.

Has it really gotten that bad? BusinessInsider.com:

The retailer's warning prompted a gloomy forecast from analyst Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData. "In our view, Bed Bath & Beyond is too far gone to be saved in its present form," Saunders wrote. "A catalogue of missteps has run the company into the ground and has made it increasingly irrelevant. Only very radical action will allow it to survive and even if it does, it will be a shadow of its former self."