Bebe, Inc. Bebe Inc. Bebe,

Bebe, Inc.

Bebe Inc.

Bebe, Inc. makes and sells clothing and accessories for and to women between the ages of 21 and 35 years of age. These women will follow the latest fashion trends, which is what attracts them to Bebe's clothing and accessories. Bebe sells sweaters, shoes, handbags and all types of jewelry. Bebe manufactures its clothing in countries such as Brazil and Italy and refrains from manufacturing their goods in China. Since the recession, Bebe has taken into account the changing times and that people are becoming more frugal when it comes to spending money on clothing and accessories; therefore, Bebe, as of lately, has been focusing on more classic and traditional clothing as opposed to trendy as they believe it is more attractive at this period in time.

Bebe has always been a company that has been considered more trendy, edgy and a bit upscale as well. Their boutique environment as stores is more upscale than other "trendy" stores such as Express or Gap even. The clothes and accessories are displayed in a very upscale fashion and the stores are bold and visually stimulating. All of these aspects have created a clientele for Bebe that have illustrated their loyalty to the Brand. The Bebe clientele is smart, sassy and driven and thus the sales team are training to be knowledgeable about the product they are selling (Bebe 2010).

In 2007, Bebe eliminated Mischa Barton as the face of Bebe and hired model-turned-actress Rebecca Romijn to take her place. Eva Longoria was then hired for the company's activewear line, Bebe Sport (Highbeam 2007). This hiring of thirty-somethings for the faces of Bebe suggested that the company was looking to market to a bit older clientele as Mischa was 20 at the time and Romijn 34 and Longoria, 31. (2007). This makes sense as the clothes, while being trendy, are also seen as more upscale as their price points are more than other stores such as Express and Gap (as aforementioned) and are more along the lines of the price points of Banana Republic -- although Bebe's clothing is still more edgy. The clothing therefore fits a special need in the market and it has created its own niche. The only store that seems very close by comparison is Arden B., but Arden B. does not have the same loyalty of clientele as does Bebe.

To loyal customers of Bebe, the brand signifies contemporary and modern appeal. When Manny Mashouf opened the first Bebe store in San Francisco in 1976, there were three categories that dominated the women's wear market, according to Bebe.com (2010): "junior, bride, and missy" (2010).Mashouf found a demographic that was not junior and not missy -- and not bride (normally), so he aimed to help women find a new way to express themselves by offering the "under represented population of stylish women inspirational, sexy fashion" (2010). Thus, the brand Bebe means a lot to stylish and sexy women who feel that the Gap is too plain and Express is too common -- and not trendy enough. While stores like Forever 21 also follow the latest trends, the clothes are not of the same quality as Bebe's and Forever 21 caters to a younger, more high-school aged crowd. The Bebe customer is young and stylish, hard-working and wants to stand out in the crowd in nice, well-made -- yet functional clothing.

Bebe stands apart from other stores like Banana Republic mainly in the sense that Bebe is edgier. Banana Republic makes good quality, functional and stylish clothing, yet it is more geared to the preppy customer. The Bebe customer doesn't want to wear only three colors and likes to experiment with edgy accessories -- including shoes and handbags. Banana Republic is not unique in that someone who is 18, 35 or 65 can wear the clothing. It doesn't make a statement like Bebe. Other stores like Arden B. are hit and miss. Arden B. tries to achieve the same boutique sort of sense with the store, but it doesn't have the same sense of class that Bebe has.

One of the other lines in Bebe's store is Kardashians Bebe, which looks and feels similar to Bebe's usual style, but there is more monochromatic themes occurring in this line and the shapes are also harsher than we normally see with Bebe. Overall, they look well-designed and the Kardashians line is around the same price point as Bebe. The Suiting line is "pretty and professional" (Bebe 2010), just as the Web site says. The lines are classic and the colors are, for the majority, lackluster, but this is the professional line, so it is to be expected.