capitalg Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 That’s what I thought, but couldn’t remember where I had seen that...do you know if they are still involved with Sharper Image? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foreign Tuffett Posted February 19, 2020 Author Share Posted February 19, 2020 Anyone know how many bebe stores there are worldwide? Looks like the NYC store closed some time in 1H of calendar 2019, so probably no more US stores. In my notes I had them as having ~42 international stores, but that # is ~2 years out of date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Schwab711 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Looks like 70 but I think they are licensed, not owned https://www.bebe.com/pages/about-bebe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valuedontlie Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 BEBE does not own any stores and I do not believe Bluestar Alliance does either (Bluestar manages/operates the brand, e-commerce, wholesale partnerships, etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foreign Tuffett Posted February 19, 2020 Author Share Posted February 19, 2020 Yeah, I know the entity in question here doesn't actually own any stores. That was literally the first sentence of my write up in Dec 2017 that started this thread, so we are all on the same page in that regard. OK, so let's just assume 70 stores since that looks like the best number we have. 70 stores spread out 20 countries*....I wonder how inventory and supply chain works? * From the "LICENSING & WHOLESALE" page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valuedontlie Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 the setup must be nearly identical to Brookstone where someone else owns and operates those stores for a licensing fee... BB Brand Holdings LLC (the JV) has only $8m in assets as of 12/31/19... I don't think BEBE or Bluestar hold any inventory... it is purely a licensing business... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Schwab711 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Are you thinking the potential to stuff channels to push sales? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foreign Tuffett Posted February 19, 2020 Author Share Posted February 19, 2020 What I am getting at is that it's probably quite difficult to manage the inventory and supply chain for a retail business with such an ultra-fragmented store base. Different languages, local markets, customs regimes, etc. This issue is something that came up when American Apparel went bankrupt a few years ago. It had something like ~200 stores in 20+ countries. Also, I don't think it is about channel stuffing as it is volumes tilting towards off price channels like Burlington and Nordstrom Rack. How much brand equity does the bebe brand have left if $10 bebe-branded flip flops are being sold on Burlington's site, and $17 jumpsuits on Nordstrom Rack's site? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valuedontlie Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 What I am getting at is that it's probably quite difficult to manage the inventory and supply chain for a retail business with such an ultra-fragmented store base. Different languages, local markets, customs regimes, etc. This issue is something that came up when American Apparel went bankrupt a few years ago. It had something like ~200 stores in 20+ countries. Also, I don't think it is about channel stuffing as it is volumes tilting towards off price channels like Burlington and Nordstrom Rack. How much brand equity does the bebe brand have left if $10 bebe-branded flip flops are being sold on Burlington's site, and $17 jumpsuits on Nordstrom Rack's site? Hard to know how many licensees operate those international stores and what their economics look like... clearly not awesome if store count went from 82 to 70... Also, not enough disclosure to know the mix of licensing income from int'l stores vs. other licensing deals vs. e-commerce licensing... sort of a black box there I see where you are going with the brand risk, really difficult to know without more disclosure. Makes it difficult to put a multiple on that piece of the business... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capitalg Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 Announced a (reduced) quarterly dividend of $0.06 per share. Not unexpected considering the current environment. Brookstone website has substantially improved since that last time I looked at it a few months back - now it's much cleaner, more cohesive, and includes a wider variety of products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valuedontlie Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 Q3 results looked pretty good... cash still $8.5m with no debt... Anyone know revenue split between e-commerce / retail? Brookstone has a decent chunk of licensing income from airport stores too which are likely hurting right now... Would love to see them pick up another brand (with heavy e-commerce sales) in current environment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capitalg Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Interesting development: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201111005272/en/bebe-stores-inc.-Announces-Acquisition-of-47-Franchise-Locations-from-Franchise-Group-Inc.-for-35-million Franchise Group press release (https://www.franchisegrp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/franchise-group-inc-refranchises-47-buddys-locations-35-million) contains a little more color indicating that the 47 stores being purchased have about $35M in annual revenue and generate $6M of EBITDA, and that bebe also acquired the right to develop an additional 20 Buddy's locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foreign Tuffett Posted November 11, 2020 Author Share Posted November 11, 2020 Interesting development: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201111005272/en/bebe-stores-inc.-Announces-Acquisition-of-47-Franchise-Locations-from-Franchise-Group-Inc.-for-35-million Franchise Group press release (https://www.franchisegrp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/franchise-group-inc-refranchises-47-buddys-locations-35-million) contains a little more color indicating that the 47 stores being purchased have about $35M in annual revenue and generate $6M of EBITDA, and that bebe also acquired the right to develop an additional 20 Buddy's locations. I won't pretend that I follow this anymore, but at first glance not a good deal for BEBE. What does it bring to the table here except for cash? What does Manny Mashouf or anyone else at the company know about operating rent-to-own stores? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capitalg Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 They also bring NOLs. But I tend to agree in that I would have rather they acquire another brand sticking to their original strategy and not physical store locations and operations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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