Did it hurt... when your revenues fell from heaven? Victoria's Secret's quarterly sales dropped (another) 5%, 35 stores were shut down, and only 1 was opened. But shares of Vicky's owner, L Brands, jumped 14% after the report because it happens to own another brand doing the opposite: Bath & Body Works sales surged 13% and it opened 11 new stores.
Gisele's been meditating on it... Victoria's Secret still pushes push-up bras in the bralette era, creepily dims the lights in its stores, and remains rooted in malls — That's all on the wrong side of Millennial retail. So Team Vicky has done some serious reflecting lately, and made moves to turn things around:
- Bring back bathing suits: The company lost $500M in sales after ending its swimsuit line in 2016. Now they're coming back.
- Turn off the TV: After its annual fashion show suffered its lowest ratings in 20 years, Victoria is "rethinking" the annual event of aggressive lingerie costumes.
To split or not to split?... One L Brands investor is pushing the company to separate struggling Vicky from the successful Bath & Body chain. That move helps a successful brand keep its mojo, while letting the pained one regroup. It's a style we're trend-spotting across the fashion industry:
- Gap is letting its star Old Navy go free this spring.
- Vans-owner VF Brands is spinning off its strained jeans brands Wrangler and Lee's this week.
- And J. Crew now wants to do the same with Madewell.