Honeybee, the upscale women's clothing chain, will completely close its stores within 60 days, according to its corporate owner, Spiegel Inc.
There are two Honeybee stores in the Washington area -- at Fair Oaks Mall and Union Station -- and three others here have been shuttered in the past year. Employees at area stores said yesterday they have been offered an option to move to other Spiegel divisions that operate here, including Eddie Bauer, which sells outdoor gear, and For You, the women's clothing chain that caters to larger sizes.
The 17-store Honeybee chain, which was bought by the giant Illinois-based catalogue and retail company in 1988 and is based outside Philadelphia, had about $40 million in sales in 1991, including its catalogue business, which will remain in operation. Retail sales accounted for about one-third of that total.
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For about two years, the 27-year-old chain has experienced flat sales, particularly in the Northeast, where most of its stores are located. Former employees said that decline was caused by Honeybee's inability to distinguish itself in a competitive specialty field that included AnnTaylor and Episode.
"They tried to refocus it and slipped in quality right when others were coming on strong," said one former Honeybee employee. "It wasn't the right time to make mistakes and they could not catch up."
Rockville-based women's clothing retailer Harper's also has seen competition take its toll; it filed for bankruptcy protection in Rockville on Monday. Miss Harper Inc., which operates six stores in the Washington area, will close at least two stores in the area.
Analysts expect a number of retail businesses to file for bankruptcy protection in the next month because of disappointing Christmas sales and a general downturn in consumer spending.
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