Victoria’s Secret plunges back into swimwear
Victoria’s Secret is back in the swim.
The L Brands lingerie chain relaunched its swimwear line Monday with more than 300 selections in its online store.
For now, at least, swimwear will be available only online at Victoriassecret. com and not in Victoria’s Secret’s bricks-and-mortar stores.
In addition to Victoria’s Secret Swim, the brand is selling a select assortment of other swimwear brands, including Seafolly, Banana Moon, Lascana and La Blanca.
The relaunch comes three years after the Columbus-based retailer said it would get rid of two product categories — swimwear and apparel, along with its catalog — and make other changes to focus on its core merchandise.
But after those changes, L Brands stumbled. Its stock fell drastically, and operating income at Victoria’s Secret dropped by $458 million, or 33 percent, a year.
In light of those missteps, Wall Street analysts and L Brands shareholders suggested that dumping swimwear, apparel and the famous Victoria’s Secret catalog were huge mistakes. Eliminating the two merchandise categories meant the loss of annual sales of $525 million. And the catalog’s annual circulation to nearly 250 million households was key to connecting with many customers.
In November, L Brands executives told analysts that it would re-enter the business by spring as part of a move to rejuvenate the struggling brand.
The decision to get back into swimwear is driven primarily by what customers are telling the company, said Stuart Burgdoerfer, chief financial officer of L Brands.
“The decision at that time was to focus our energy and our resources on our most critical categories, that being bras and panties at Victoria’s Secret lingerie,” Burgdoerfer said. “But as we evaluate the situation today, (we have made) a very important decision — and we believe a good one — to re-enter the swim business again, driven principally by customer feedback that we’ve received.”