March 21, 2017
by Estelle Marine
Bebe, a contemporary fashion retailer for women, is closing all of its stores but will still operate online, according to a Bloomberg report. The report says that the company might file for bankruptcy if it can’t get out of its leases. The company has lost about $200 million over the past four years, according to Bloomberg.
Bebe was founded in 1976. The company’s name is inspired by the famous Shakespeare quote from the “Hamlet” play: “To be or not to be.”
In February 2016, Bebe announced that Manny Mashouf had rejoined bebe’s management team as CEO and that Walter Parks rejoined as president/COO and interim CFO. At the same time, company also announced the exits of CEO/board member Jim Wiggett and CFO Liyuan Woo.
In March 2017, Bebe hired the company B. Riley & Co. for financial advice and also retained a real estate adviser “to assist with options related to its lease holdings.”