Limited Brands is getting undressed. The company is peeling off its apparel brands — namesake chain Limited Stores and Express – and keeping what’s worn underneath: Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works. Together, the intimate apparel and personal care business units account for nearly three quarters of Limited Brands revenue and almost all of the company’s profit. Amid shrinking apparel sales, Limited Brands recently sold a 75% stake in Express, launched in 1980, to Golden Gate Capital. And it has agreed to essentially give away Limited Stores to another private equity firm, Sun Capital Partners, in return for a $50 million cash infusion. (Limited Brands is taking a loss on the sale, which is expected to close this summer.)
Limited Stores has seen its retail star rise and fall since founder Leslie Wexner used it as the starting point for the specialty retailer when he opened his first store in 1963. In recent years, sales at both clothing chains have slumped amid increased competition from more fashion-forward and savvier marketers, such as Zara and H&M.
While a company spokeswoman recently said that Limited Brands has no plans to change its name, clearly a new appellation is needed to reflect the firm’s change in focus. So I polled my very creative colleagues at Hoover’s and here’s some of what we came up with:
In no particular order suggestions include:
* Very Limited Brands
* Bras, Bath & Body Works
* Bubbles ‘n Boobs
* Boobs, Bubbles & Beyond
* Close-to-You Brands
* Boudoir Brands
Or the company could go the acronym route and change its name to VSBBW, or some other alphabetical configuration. There’s plenty to work with when you toss the company’s other businesses — C.O. Bigelow, La Senza, White Barn Candle Co., Henri Bendel and Diva London – into the mix.
Thanks to fellow bloggers Jeff Dorsch, Patrice Sarath, Lee Simons, and Vanita Trippe for their suggestions! If you’ve got a better one, write it in the Leave A Comment box below and I may include it in an upcoming post.
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