Bed Bath & Beyond will be closing and opening stores this year.

The New Jersey-based home goods retailer, which also operates Buy Buy Baby, Harmon Face Values and World Market, announced mixed results during its fourth-quarter call with financial analysts this week.

"We expect to open approximately 15 new stores in fiscal 2019. This will be offset by a minimum of approximately 40 stores we expect to close," Robyn D'Elia, chief financial officer and treasurer, said during Wednesday's earnings call. "This number will grow unless we are able to negotiate more favorable lease terms with our landlords."

D'Elia said most of the "planned closures are for Bed Bath & Beyond stores."

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In the fourth quarter, the company opened three stores and closed 21 stores. The company has more than 1,500 stores across all of its brands, which also includes Christmas Tree Shops.

Bed Bath & Beyond officials also discussed updates on some new initiatives, including its "next generation lab stores." During 2018, D'Elia said, the company "initiated 21 next generation lab stores, in which we are testing new and different assortments and visual merchandising to reimagine the in-store experience."

Those stores experienced higher sales, the company reported.

The year has been off to a rough start for all retail. Based on figures from global marketing research firm Coresight Research, bankruptcy filings and company earnings reports, more than 6,500 stores are slated to close in 2019.

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The brick-and-mortar downturn is expected to continue, according to a report released this week from UBS Securities. Investment bank analysts said 75,000 more stores would need to be shuttered by 2026 if e-commerce “penetration rises from 16% currently to 25%.”

Follow USA TODAY reporter Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko