April 22 (UPI) — California-based women’s apparel retailer Bebe announced plans to close all of its stores by the end of May. Utah’s sole store is at the City Creek Center, in downtown Salt Lake City.
Bebe said it anticipates the closure of “all of the stores by the end of May,” according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The retailer had already begun to reduce its number of stores, reporting it still had 134 Bebe stores in 31 states, Puerto Rico and Canada as well as 34 outlet stores.
Bebe also hinted at the massive closure by previously announcing plans to close 28 stores and stating the company was “exploring strategic alternatives” in an earlier SEC filing.
The most recent SEC filing did not mention the company’s online operations, indicating it may continue to sell merchandise through its website.
Bebe lost $13 million in the first half of its fiscal year after its sales fell 13.5 percent from the same time last year to $189.2 million.
Impending layoffs with California’s state government indicate the store closures will result in the loss of 700 jobs in the state.
