Bebe Closing PH8 Stores - StyleList

Looks from Bebe's PH8 Sportswear Line. Photos courtesy feather hair extension of PH8It was fate. Bebe stores' PH8 division of active sportswear is being discontinued to allow the brand to focus on its profitability and growing its discount 2b Bebe brand. Almost one year to the date after the company announced it would open freestanding PH8 stores, it announced it was pulling the plug on the brand. In a release last year, the company said PH8 was going to evolve from Bebe Sport and grow into a brand of "playfully sexy fashion-forward active street wear," citing the changing economy and the demand for "on-the-go" items that could take customers from lace wigs yoga to coffee to a parent-teacher conference. This year, it's another story completely. The company said in a release that it will close all 48 PH8 stores by the first quarter of 2011 to the tune of a $17 million charge. It was odd that Bebe, known for its racy, sexy going-out clothes for young women, actually chose to go in the active direction in the first place. The brand found its perfect partners in the Kardashian sisters, who launched the Bebe-Kardashian collection during New York Fashion Week last February.In other Kardashian news, check out front lace wigs their Beach Bunny Swimwear Ad.