Dive Brief:

• Bed Bath & Beyond named Laura Crossen, the company’s chief accounting officer and senior vice president of finance, as its CFO on an interim basis effective Monday, according to a Tuesday SEC filing. She will continue acting as the company’s principal accounting officer. 

• The new appointment comes after Gustavo Arnal, CFO of the home goods retailer since 2020, died Friday by suicide, according to a spokesperson for the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner. 

• Crossen, who has been with the Union, New Jersey-based company since 2001, was just named chief accounting officer in June when she was charged with executing the company’s global accounting operations, financial reporting and tax functions. 

Dive Insight:

Arnal’s death and the exit of CEO Mark Tritton in June leave the embattled company’s C-suite headed by interim leaders. Crossen will work with Sue Gove, an independent director of the retailer’s board and chair of the board’s strategy committee, who replaced Tritton on an interim basis.

A Bed Bath & Beyond spokesperson in and email wrote that Crossen has “the full support of the organization, the board and our outside advisors.” The company declined to make Crossen available for comment. 

Bed Bath & Beyond’s swift move to fill the CFO seat comes as management’s efforts to turn the company around have faced increasing financial headwinds. The company’s shares plummeted 18.42% to close at $7.04 Tuesday. 

The company outlined deep cost-cutting measures on Aug. 31 and other steps to improve its balance sheet and cash flows, including closing 150 stores and reducing its supply chain and corporate staff.

The company, along with Arnal, activist investor Ryan Cohen and others were named defendants in a class-action lawsuit filed on Aug. 23 which alleged Cohen, Arnal and others “engaged in fraudulent scheme to artificially inflate” the price of Bed Bath & Beyond’s publicly traded stock. In an Aug. 31 SEC filing, Bed Bath & Beyond stated it was in the early stages of evaluating the complaint but “based on current knowledge the company believes the claims are without merit.”

Editor’s note: If you are having thoughts of self-harm, contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988 for free and confidential support from trained counselors. This story was updated to include the Lifeline contact information, a company comment and the closing share price.