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Some Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. suppliers say they are restricting or halting shipments even after the company secured new financing, a sign of the challenges the troubled retailer faces to receive new merchandise and reverse more than a year of plummeting sales, Bloomberg News reported. Bed Bath & Beyond used a portion of the $500 million in additional financing it got at the end of August to catch up on overdue payments to suppliers. But some of those suppliers say they remain concerned about the retailer’s survival and have cut off or cut back on merchandise they ship to the company. That further complicates Bed Bath & Beyond’s turnaround strategy, which hinges on securing a steady supply of products from national brands. Take Dbest Products Inc., which has been selling its rolling carts to Bed Bath & Beyond for more than a decade. In early September, the company for the first time asked Bed Bath & Beyond to pay upfront for its products. “We requested to alter our payment terms to payment in advance and they said no — politely,” Dbest Products Chief Executive Officer Richard Elden said. He says he previously sold around “six figures” worth of wholesale products to Bed Bath & Beyond annually.

Birchbox is weighing its options, including chapter 11 bankruptcy, sources have told WWD.com. In a letter to creditors sent Tuesday, Birchbox’s parent company FemTec Health, which acquired the business last year, said those owed money from Birchbox could opt into shares of FemTec instead. “We believe, in the best interests of Birchbox and the entire FMTC family of companies spanning the U.S. and Europe, a chapter 11 or some equivalent structure may be necessary,” the letter read. Birchbox was founded in 2010 by Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna as the original beauty subscription box service, but the company has struggled in recent years. The letter said Birchbox’s revenue projections dropped from $74 million to $47 million, even following a $30 million infusion from FemTec.

Some of Revlon's creditors have asked a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Manhattan to unwind the bankrupt cosmetic giant's 2020 loan restructuring, saying that a group of senior lenders fleeced other creditors by improperly laying claim to the company's valuable intellectual property assets, Reuters reported. The creditors, including Brigade Capital and Nuveen Asset Management, in a court filing late Monday accused a separate faction of lenders, known as the Brandco lenders, of exerting enormous leverage over Revlon's bankruptcy proceedings based on "sham" loan transactions made in 2019 and 2020. If successful, their challenge could eliminate the Brandco lenders' right to claim Revlon's brands as their exclusive collateral, reducing the Brandco lenders' leverage in the bankruptcy. Both lender groups participated in a $2 billion loan that Revlon used to purchase Elizabeth Arden in 2016. But the Brandco lenders, which include private equity and hedge funds such as Ares Management and Oak Hill Advisors, then loaned Revlon additional money and claimed more of Revlon's assets as collateral, in violation of the 2016 loan agreement, according to the filing. When Revlon filed for bankruptcy in June, the Brandco lenders held about $1.88 billion of Revlon's $3.5 billion debt. They loaned the company another $975 million to fund the chapter 11 case. Through transactions in 2019 and 2020, Revlon transferred trademarks and other intellectual property rights associated with its beauty brands, including Elizabeth Arden, Almay and Roux, to newly created subsidiaries which took on additional, higher-priority debt than the company's existing debts.

U.S. consumer spending rose more than expected in September while underlying inflation pressures continued to bubble, keeping the Federal Reserve on track to hike interest rates by another three-quarters of a percentage point next week, Reuters reported. But there was some encouraging news in the fight against stubbornly high inflation, with other data from the Labor Department on Friday showing private industry wage growth slowed considerably in the third quarter. The moderation occurred in inflation-sensitive industries like retail, construction and finance. Sectors such as healthcare and education, which are still experiencing worker shortages, saw a pick-up. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, rose 0.6% last month, the Commerce Department said. Data for August was revised higher to show spending increasing 0.6% instead of 0.4% as previously reported. The Commerce Department report showed the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.3%, matching August's gain. In the 12 months through September, the PCE price index increased 6.2%, after rising by the same margin in August. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the PCE price index climbed 0.5%, matching the increase in August. The so-called core PCE price index advanced 5.1% on a year-on-year basis in September after increasing 4.9% in the 12 months through August. The Fed tracks the PCE price indexes for its 2% inflation target. Other inflation measures are running much higher. The consumer price index increased 8.2% on a year-on-year basis in September. But there are some glimmers of hope. In a separate report on Friday, the Labor Department said the Employment Cost Index, the broadest measure of labor costs, rose 1.2% last quarter after increasing 1.3% in the April-June period.

Revlon Inc.'s bankruptcy attorneys said in court yesterday that the cosmetics company is engaging with possible purchasers as a way to exit from chapter 11 as quickly as possible, Reuters reported. Revlon attorney Paul Basta told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones in Manhattan that the company is ready to move onto the next stage of its bankruptcy after stabilizing its relationship with vendors and completing a long-term business plan. Revlon is exploring a possible sale of the company and has begun sending nondisclosure agreements to interested bidders, Basta said. Revlon junior creditors argued in court that rushing toward a sale before the 2022 holiday season would only benefit senior lenders who forced the company to accept unrealistic deadlines as part of Revlon's $1.4 billion bankruptcy loan.

On her first day as permanent chief executive of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., Sue Gove made a plea to suppliers of the struggling home goods retailer: Stick with us, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company hosted roughly 500 suppliers virtually and at its Union, N.J., headquarters for a two-hour summit in which executives laid out their strategy for resuscitating the chain, which has been reeling from a failed overhaul under prior management that led to plunging sales, a cash crisis and a leadership vacuum. In September, its finance chief died by suicide. Gove, a veteran retail executive who had served on the company’s board, had been interim CEO since June. She succeeded Mark Tritton, whose attempt to replace national brands with private-label goods alienated shoppers. Bed Bath & Beyond made her position permanent on Wednesday. She will continue to serve as a director. Gove said the company had enough money to make the necessary changes to its business, which includes bringing back more national brands, upgrading its supply chain and improving digital operations. “We don’t think there is bankruptcy on our horizon,” she said. The company launched a debt-exchange earlier this month to extend maturities and reduce interest expenses. Bondholders have the option to receive new notes at par for a lower coupon or take a discount on the principal. Gove said the exchange was in the early stages, but she was optimistic about its outcome.

Bed Bath & Beyond, the beleaguered retail chain that is in the midst of an attempted turnaround, said today that Sue Gove would officially assume the title of chief executive after four months as an interim in the role, the New York Times reported. Gove has been an independent director for the company since May 2019. She became the interim chief after Mark Tritton stepped down and left the company following several quarters of declining sales. The company’s stock has tumbled 65 percent since the start of the year. Now, Gove will assume the task of reviving Bed Bath & Beyond’s fortunes. Following the announcement of a restructuring plan in August, the company is in the process of closing 150 of its big-box stores, from New Jersey to California. Roughly 70 store closures are already underway, and another wave will begin soon. It has laid off employees and, where possible, transferred workers from stores that are closing to others nearby. It is trying to ease some of its supply chain pains by adding a new regional distribution center and working with a third-party company to analyze its network. On Tuesday, the company completed an at-the-market offering program for 12 million shares, and authorized a new $150 million at-the-market offering, in order to increase liquidity. It also has a bond exchange program that it hopes will reduce its debt. In August, the company said that it had taken out more than $500 million in new financing.