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Bebe Stores Changes a Few Board Members

Bebe Stores announced it made several changes to its board of directors.

Darrin Klotz, who co-founded the Lido Equities Group, is being named to the board to replace Robert Galvin. Klotz specializes in the acquisition, development and management of commercial investment properties and is a licensed California real-estate broker.

Nick Capuano, the chief investment officer for B. Riley Financial, has been named chairman of the board.

Members remaining on the board include Bebe Stores founder Manny Mashouf, Corrado Federico and Kenny Young.

Last year, the publicly traded company, which was based in Northern California but had a major design studio in Los Angeles, shut down all 168 of its retail stores, laid off 700 employees and now is making money from licensing its brand name.

The strategy was part of the remake of Bebe, a once fashion-centric retail chain started in San Francisco in 1976 by Mashouf, an Iranian-American businessman.

Earlier this year, Bebe Stores sold its main Los Angeles office building for $28.5 million.

The shuttering of stores and closing the company’s design studio and offices helped the retail chain avoid bankruptcy after selling half the brand for $35 million to Bluestar Alliance, a New York brand-management company that has snapped up labels such as English Laundry, Nanette Lepore and Catherine Malandrino.

Last year, Bluestar Alliance came out with a new Bebe collection of sexy dresses with new sizes and new categories.

Then in March, Bebe pulled the wraps off its first lifestyle store in New York City, located near the Empire State Building at 1 W. 34th St.