Over the past two years, however, Bed Bath has tested vendor relationships by making late payments, pushing aggressively into private labels and losing shoppers.
Those tensions have intensified as financial troubles mounted, according to the former Bed Bath executives.
Make or breakA customer carries a shopping bag outside a Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. store in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Bed Bath already had a significant debt load prior to the new financing.
Growing troublesCustomers carry bags from Bed Bath & Beyond store on April 10, 2013 in Los Angeles, California.