RIP bandage dresses: Bebe will close all its stores next month
Pour one out for the bandage dresses.
Bebe, the iconic mall purveyor of skintight clubwear, will close all its stores by the end of May.
The retailer announced its plans Friday through a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There were at least 180 Bebe stores at the end of 2016.
Bebe had been struggling for a while. Once the go-to spot for a certain going-out look, the mall staple was forced to compete with younger brands like Nasty Gal. Last month the chain revealed it was trying to find a way to avoid closing all its stores after suffering losses four years in a row.
Unfortunately, Bebe couldn't find a solution. The chain's sweeping store closures come as American Apparel is about to finish selling off the last of its inventory before shutting its doors forever.
But the end of Bebe's IRL ubiquity doesn't necessarily mean the end of Bebe. The store might try to revitalize itself as an online-only brand.
Bebe.com, still alive?
Emma Hinchliffe is a business reporter at Mashable. Before joining Mashable, she covered business and metro news at the Houston Chronicle.
