Case Study: Victoria's Secret

Case Study: Victoria's Secret

OVERVIEW

Victoria's Secret, one of the world's most recognizable fashion brands, established itself in the Bay Area in the early 1970s. Originally owned by an ambitious Stanford graduate looking for a comfortable and high-end retailer to buy his wife lingerie, Roy Raymond opened the first store at Stanford Shopping Center. Styled after a Victorian boudoir, Raymond's success prompted him to open three other locations, a catalog business, and a corporate headquarters within a few years. His inability to balance finances with his creative vision, Roy Raymond fell into trouble and was forced to sell his company for the small sum of $1 million dollars to The Limited, an Ohio-based conglomerate owned by Les Wexner.

Les Wexner rapidly expanded on the national attention Victoria's Secret had been receiving by opening over 400 stores by 1990 and currently operates approximately 950 stores nationwide. While Victoria's Secret is known for its lingerie sales, it has successfully launched a beauty division and also carries brands like Betsy Johnson, Dolce & Gabbana and Intimissimi, an affordable Italian brand. Victoria's Secret Direct, the catalog division of the company, continues to see growth as sales reached $870 million in 2005, but the star is still it's retail stores. Yearly sales for Victoria's Secret stores topped $2.6 billion dollars in 2005 and our store on Powell Street recently surpassed the $10 million dollar mark in sales for 2006, making it the 13th store in the company based on volume.

ANALYSIS OF ISSUES

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We are using October 2006 as the base for our forecasted sales due to the many changes that have occurred in the last year. Several product lines have been ...

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...to a large hotel and in a tourist destination. Associate behaviors and tenure impacts sales as well. The selling of intimate apparel is more involved than the average person realizes. A good understanding of what will work best for each client is key and new associates have not committed to memory all that is necessary for success. However, a tenured associate will know how and what the client needs and ensure that she leaves happy.

Management experience will also play a large role in the success of the forecast. The current team is quite new and will gain some needed experience over the next year in the hopes of staying on track for success. The ability of management to ensure product is readily available for the client, their training techniques with new and seasoned associates, and general management style will ensure success or spell defeat for the store.