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Limited bought Victoria's Secret in 1982, when it had just four stores and a catalog. Under Limited Chief Executive Leslie Wexner, Victoria's Secret improved its quality and toned down racy styles to appeal to mainstream customers.
In the 1990s, professional women shopped the pastel-painted stores for colorful, European-inspired lingerie, supplementing underwear wardrobes previously filled with black, white and beige styles. Soft music played in the background while saleswomen discreetly offered help.
But over time, Victoria's Secret adapted to a changing culture. Women began wearing camisoles and bustiers as outer garments, the growth of the Internet made skin-baring photographs ubiquitous, and teen pop stars such as Britney Spears gyrated on stage in revealing costumes.
One reason Victoria's Secret got off track, Turney said, was the success of its Pink brand, which launched in 2002 and aimed to introduce college students to Victoria's Secret stores. Pink has grown tremendously; in October, an executive said it would probably reach $900 million in sales for 2007.
But as teens and 20-somethings snapped up Pink underwear and pajamas, too many other product lines at Victoria's Secret shifted to target that same customer, Turney said.
Today, Victoria's Secret stores are lacquered black, with neon-pink accents and oversize images of scantily clad models. Pounding music pumps through the loudspeakers. Malls endure protests from parents who are outraged by window displays that feature suggestively posed mannequins.
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The word "sexy" is everywhere: on the "Very Sexy" makeup and bra lines, on the "Sexy Little Things" room of risque underwear and on the chain's Valentine's Day list of "What is Sexy." (Victoria Beckham and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo made the cut this year.)
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Apparently, you can be too sexyCEO Sharen Jester Turney wants Victoria's Secret to get back to its brand heritage. "We use the word 'sexy' a lot and really have forgotten the ultra-feminine," she says.
"As a customer over the years, I believe their trend toward a youth-oriented pop style is anything but sexy," says Cecil Van Houten, a 53-year-old shopper from Bath, N.Y.
While purchasing perfume at a Victoria's Secret store with his wife recently, Van Houten noticed that most of the display area "was taken up by product that looked as though it were designed for teenage girls rather than adult women." The rest of the merchandise, he says, "varied between trashy and uninspiring."
As the giant in the marketplace, Victoria's Secret is vulnerable to competition from all directions. Discounters and department stores, such as Target (TGT, news, msgs), J.C. Penney (JCP, news, msgs) and Kohl's (KSS, news, msgs) have been revamping their lingerie offerings. Teen chains such as American Eagle Outfitters (AEO, news, msgs) have gone after the business, too.
The latest entry is Gilly Hicks, a small intimate-apparel chain started by Abercrombie & Fitch (AEF, news, msgs). With its more-romantic and casual feel, Gilly Hicks has been described by industry watchers as a less-provocative alternative to Victoria's Secret for younger shoppers. But Abercrombie Chief Executive Michael Jeffries has said he doesn't envision the two brands competing for customers.
Meanwhile, lingerie purveyor Fredericks of Hollywood (FOH, news, msgs), which has more than 130 stores and calls itself "the original sex symbol," has focused in recent years on affordable fashion inspired by red-carpet styles. While she wouldn't speak directly to the changes at Victoria's Secret, the chain's Chief Executive Linda LoRe said, "We feel very strongly that there are a lot of different interpretations of sexy. It's about confidence; it's about how you feel."
Turney said Victoria's Secret sees opportunities to introduce both higher-priced and less-expensive merchandise to fend off rivals. That's a strategy that has tripped up other industry leaders, such as Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, news, msgs) that strayed from their roots. Wal-Mart stumbled in its efforts to upgrade its apparel offerings and introduce pricier products. Its sales recovered after it returned to its historical focus on discounting.
This article was reported and written by Amy Merrick for The Wall Street Journal.
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