Victoria’s Secret sees opportunities in maternity merchandise and fashion show revival

Currently, both Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works are part of L Brands Inc.
LB,
+ 1.75%

travel. Bath & Body Works will become the trading company of Bath & Body Works Inc. under the code “BBWI”.

See: Victoria’s Secret shows how its reluctance to embrace the large-scale market can affect the apparel business

“[W]e has redefined the vision, purpose and mission of the company. And our vision is quite ambitious. Martin Waters, chief executive of Victoria’s Secret Lingerie, said according to the FactSet transcript of this week’s virtual Victoria’s Secret investors meeting. Bath & Body Works also hosts an event.

Victoria’s Secret has announced the launch of a women-focused brand ambassador board, VS Collective, which includes names like American soccer player Megan Rapinoe and actor, producer, and author Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

The company has also reworked its board to include more women.

Now, the company is looking to its product line to correct the flaws that have led to the brand “losing its relevance to the modern woman,” Waters said.

“Pregnancy, a business we’ve never been in before, because the business definition is just sexy, maternity isn’t appropriate,” he said. “When we define the business as pro-women, of course, maternity is an important part of the business.”

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The company is also looking for opportunities in the figure and bridal sector.

The reassessment also extends to in-store imagery, which has resulted in the “removal of images that no longer reflect the brand’s positioning”.

However, the company says it may revive its fashion shows. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show saw a drop in ratings before the event was disqualified. The shows will be a different sight from the previous version.

“[W]I’ve had a very substantial amount of marketing spend on the fashion show before, and we’ve saved that money over the past two years,” Waters said. “Our aim is to get back into the fashion show business.”

Another obstacle for the brand is the fleet of stores located in the mall. Malls experienced reduced traffic even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, the brand sees an opportunity in “out of the mall” stores, 10 of which will be piloted by 2022.

In 2020, Victoria’s Secret closed 241 stores and renegotiated leases for many others.

According to its most recent monthly sales announcement, L Brands operates 2,684 company-run stores in the US, Canada and Mainland China with more than 700 franchised stores around the world.

One thing that is working for the brand is the perfume. Victoria’s Secret is the top perfume brand in the US, according to Waters.

“Our main takeaway from L Brand’s Bath & Body Works (BBW) and Victoria’s Secret (VS) analytics events is that both brands have more top movers than we appreciate.” UBS analysts wrote in a note. “This reinforces our view that the market will increasingly see both brands have better long-term growth prospects than currently anticipated.”

UBS ratings L Brands buy the stock with a $111 price target.

Read: Estee Lauder gets an upgrade as department store sales drop but e-commerce soars

“Key areas of focus for both brands include store fleet optimization, digital growth, international expansion, novelty and relevance, Cowen analysts wrote in a note. of the product”.

“As the two brands are separate as public companies, we think each will be able to focus deeply on driving revenue growth and bottom line profits, but managing enforcement will be critical to increasing shareholder value.”

Cowen rates L Stocks of active-market brands with a $70 price target.

To date, shares of L Brands have more than doubled, up 103.7 percent. S&P 500 Index
SPX,
+ 0.82%

increased 16% during this period.