Batavia Bed Bath & Beyond to close its doors, no word on when

The store manager at Bed Bath & Beyond in Towne Center at Batavia confirmed this afternoon that the store is closing, but says there is no firm date yet.

The store's lease with mall owner COR Development Co. LLC expired, and either more favorable terms could not be negotiated or the decision was made to outright pull the plug on the store once the current lease expired.

The closure is not altogether unexpected given slumping stock performance for the New Jersey-based chain of home-goods stores, hard hit by online sales competition.

According to market analysts, BBB stock has declined 55 percent in the last year and 74 percent in the last five years.

The company is still profitable, but financial experts say it is not closing brick-and-mortar stores fast enough to continue competing online.

Company executives in 2018 forecasts talked of closing more than three dozen locations nationwide, while opening more Buy, Buy Baby and Cost Plus World Market stores, which are also owned by the parent company.

Analysts say a big issue for BBB is that it stocks a lot of nationally branded commodity items that can be found elsewhere, like Amazon, for less, even with BBB's ubiquitous 20-percent off coupons and oftentimes free shipping.

What has long been a strong suit of Bed, Bath & Beyond, its peerless in-store customer service -- on par with the likes of world-class Nordstrom -- will be missed by many shoppers who experienced it firsthand.

BBB has a reputation for running a tight ship. Straightaway, new hires are taught the acronym GOT A PEN, which codifies their customer-service ethos:

• Greet the customer;
• Offer them a cart;
• Thank the customer at the register when they make a purchase and invite them back;
• Always wear your name badge;
• Pass the buck -- if you don't have the answer to a customer's questions, find someone who does;
• Escort the customer to find an item (don't just point and say "It's down that aisle.");
• Never say the word "no" (find a solution that satifies the customer).