Fifty Bath & Body Works stores will close for good as well.
The latest victim of the COVID-19 pandemic is L Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret, PINK, and Bath & Body Works. After releasing its first-quarter earnings report on Wednesday night, the retailer announced that this year, it will permanently close 250 Victoria's Secret and PINK stores in North America, as well as 50 Bath & Body Works stores. That amounts to roughly 25 percent of Victoria's Secret's thumbprint, and 3 percent of Bath & Body Works.'
It sounds like this is just the beginning wave of closures in the works for Victoria's Secret, whose total sales dropped 46 percent, or $821.5 million.
“We would expect to have a meaningful number of additional store closures beyond the 250 that we’re pursuing this year ... meaning there will be more in 2021 and probably a bit more in 2022,” interim Victoria’s Secret CEO Stuart Burgdoerfer said in a phone call with analysts.
The specific store locations that will close have not yet been identified publicly, but Burgdoerfer said they are in talks with the landlords.
Bath & Body Works, on the other hand, actually experienced an increase in online sales over last year, at 85 percent. But it still fell 18 percent, or $712.7 million, in total sales.
Reportedly, L Brands remains committed to making Bath & Body Works a “pure-play public company.”
This story is developing, and this article will be updated as more information (like the specific locations closing) becomes available.