Brisbane, CA–Less than a year after deciding to convert its Bebe Sport stores to a new retail format called PH8, Bebe Stores Inc. is to shutter the unprofitable chain to focus instead on its core Bebe brands.
The retailer today said it will close or convert the 48 stores in the PH8 chain at a cost of around $17 million.
This includes an estimated $2 million related to the write-off of the net book value of the stores’ assets and up to $1 million to mark down inventory.
It also includes an estimated $14 million related to future lease liabilities and potential salary expenses as the stores close.
Bebe says the move will allow it to focus on improving Bebe sales and profitability as well as continuing to develop its 2b Bebe concept, which may move into some PH8 stores.
The wind-down of the PH8 chain will begin in the first fiscal quarter of 2011 and should be complete by the year-end.
PH8 was launched to sell “playfully sexy fashion-forward active street wear and performance product,” the retailer said last year.
Bebe Stores, which operates 297 shops including 213 Bebe stores and 35 2b Bebe stores, also said it expects its fourth quarter same-store sales to come in at the low end of expectations.
