Victoria’s Secret laying off workers, restructuring to focus on lingerie and millennials

Victoria’s Secret is laying off workers and restructuring its business to streamline its focus on its famous lingerie, with an eye towards Millennials.

Victoria’s Secret is laying off workers and restructuring its business to streamline its focus on its famous lingerie, with an eye towards Millennials.

Victoria’s Secret is laying off workers and restructuring its business to streamline its focus on its famous lingerie, with an eye towards millennials.

The company said it’s restructuring into three business units: Victoria’s Secret Lingerie, Victoria’s Secret Beauty and PINK, a brand marketed as “a college girl’s must-shop destination for the cutest bras, panties, swim and loungewear.”

The company, which has more than 3,000 stores in the United States, the U.K. and Canada, said it’s eliminating 200 home office associates in New York City and at its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.

Parent company L Brands also said that net sales increased 5% and same-store sales increased 3% during the five weeks ended April 2, compared to the same period last year.

“Coming off a record year, now is the best time to make improvements,” said Leslie Wexner, a 77-year-old billionaire who founded the company in 1963 and replaced Sharen Jester Turney as CEO less than two months ago. “We are making these changes to accelerate our growth and to strengthen the business for the long term by narrowing our focus and simplifying our operating model.”

The company also said it would integrate its business “as a primarily digital channel” in order “to align with how customers engage with the brands.”

L Brands did not immediately return a message form CNNMoney about what this means for the fate of its famous catalog, which has featured supermodels like Gigi Hadid, Adriana Lima and Laetitia Casta.

Turney, who was with the company for 16 years, resigned in February “to prioritize my family and my personal life and consider what’s next for me professionally.” She planned to continue working with L Brands as an adviser.

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Latest dust-up in plus size wars: Amy Schumer vs. Glamour

By LEANNE ITALIE
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) – Amy Schumer took to Instagram in a black bikini to – punctuate? – her feelings about being included in a special edition of Glamour aimed at celebrating “chic at any size.”

That’s exactly what the cover sings in a tagline accompanying a photo of Ashley Graham, who made her mark in modeling wearing lingerie for the issue’s partner, the Lane Bryant chain of stores aimed at the plus-size women’s market.

The content inside the special edition out this week amounts to repurposed stories from previous Glamours, including a cover shoot with Schumer, but it doesn’t reference her as plus size – only as one of several women “who inspire us,” along with Graham, Melissa McCarthy and Adele.

No matter. Schumer took to Twitter when the magazine was released Tuesday questioning as “odd” why she wasn’t told of her inclusion and declaring the “plus size” label unnecessary in general. Not that there’s anything wrong with being plus, she was quick to note.

“Plus size is considered size 16 in America,” she tweeted. “I go between a size 6 and an 8. … Young girls seeing my body type thinking that is plus size?”

She went on to deem the magazine’s decision as “not cool glamour not glamourous.”

As social media dust-ups often go, Glamour’s editor in chief, Cindi Leive, had some tweets of her own. She noted the issue was aimed at sizes 12 and up and said she DOES find Schumer’s regular message of body positivity and talking back to body haters “inspiring,” as the cover indicates.

Leive said she agreed with Schumer that sizes 6 and 8 are not “plus size,” nor is size 12, the “frequent size of plus models” and a size smaller than the average American woman.

“We love Amy Schumer, would never want to offend her,” she tweeted. “To be clear, @glamourmag special edition never called her plus-size…”

And then the apology: “But women of all sizes can be inspired by one another’s words. So sorry if implication was otherwise, Amy”

Schumer’s publicist said the actress and comic was not available Wednesday for further comment.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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