Dive Brief:

• Women’s apparel retailer Bebe is working on revamping stores and merchandise, CEO Jim Wigget told CNBC.

• The retailer hasn’t really recovered from the departure of creative director Neda Mashouf, who left after her 2007 divorce from president and controlling investor Manny Mashouf, who’s been accused of mismanagement.

• Wigget said Bebe won’t completely be abandoning its nightclub customer, but will be adding more casual and work-ready styles to win back the fashion-forward customers it used to have.

Dive Insight:

Bebe lost a lot of its merchandising vision when Neda Mashouf left years ago, but it sounds like it may be finally ready to move on. Who knows if the retailer can abandon its habit of discounting, especially considering the strength of fast-fashion mall standouts like H&M and Forever 21. But Wigget says the plan is to be innovative again.

Wigget just took over in December, but had been acting CEO for months before, and some of Bebe’s changes, including improvements in merchandising, have already had some effect. The retailer has reduced its number of seasons and is bringing in less merchandise, which has helped cut down on costs and discounts and, Wigget says, has also helped make the merchandise more special.

"The customer is now figuring that out," Wiggett told CNBC. "She's saying, 'Alright, it's perishable. If I don't buy it in that [season's] cycle, it's gone.' And we don't replenish."