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.
Currently, Bebe, Inc. is doing quite well in this economy and this probably is largely due to their ability to scale down and realize that people are being more frugal now, spending less and making good investments in what they...
People are, overall, being more pragmatic and Bebe has been able to stay alive and vibrant because of it. In 2009, Bebe's investor relations document stated that there is a risk to the company if Fong-Lee, Chief Merchandising Officer, or Mashouf, or other key employees were lost. This could harm business and results of operation (Bebe 2010). General economic conditions, which include increases in energy and commodity prices, that are out of Bebe's control could also adversely affect their financial condition and results of operations (2010). They were unable to assure that future store opening could be successful and that new store openings would not affect already existing stores (2010). While Bebe's stock was at its all-time high in 2005 at $300 (approx.), as of June 2009, it was wavering around $100/share.
