Bebe announces over 50 job cuts to re-focus brand

Los Angeles - San Francisco-based womenswear retailer Bebe just announced that it would have to cut over 50 jobs this year. Specifically, job losses will be in the design, merchandising, and production departments.

The reason for the layoffs are due to an implemented workforce reorganization. The restructure calls for more focus on the company’s lifestyle assortments and efficiency across business functions. The decision is a strategic choice to help focus on merchandise that reflects the Bebe style. “We believe this will position us to maintain a more consistent and better edited offering of fashion that is true to the Bebe brand,” Jim Wiggett, Chief Executive Officer of Bebe, said in a statement.

Bebe reduces workforce in order to help focus on merchandising and design

Ultimately, the purpose of the cuts are to help re-focus and organize the brand. The company’s founder, Manny Mashouf, will also start to be more hands-on with the company to help reiterate this effect. He will start working closely with the company’s merchandise and design groups. Currently, Mashouf serves as chairman of the brand’s board. According to RTT News, the company has maintained its first quarter 2016 guidance. The company also expects gross margin to be lower than the previous year.

Bebe under-performs with bohemian product, moves forward with fiscal year 2016

According to Wiggett, the company expects that the pre-tax costs with the move will be 1.5 million dollars. However, the annual costs savings that the cuts will provide approximate to about 4.8 million dollars. Wiggett states that the decision to reduce their workforce “did not come easily, [but] it was believed to be in the best long term interest of the company.” The company has moved through their “bohemian” products, which have under-performed so far. In introducing these cuts, the company can ensure a more concise take on their fashion style. Although their bohemian products did not do well, Wiggett states the brand can prepare for the second half of fiscal 2016.

The company was founded in 1976 by Mashouf in San Francisco. The headquarters for the brand are currently held in Brisbane. Subsidiaries of the brand include Bebe sport, bebe stores, and bebe studio. The brand is known for its chic, contemporary fashion, offering womenswear fashion among top retailers. Bebe currently has over 300 locations throughout the United States.