victoria s secret disambiguation . this article has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article s lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents . please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article . please discuss this issue on the article s talk page . may 2015 this article needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . june 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message victoria s secret victoria s secret store 722 lexington ave new york ny type subsidiary industry apparel founded june 12 1977 ; 39 years ago 1977 06 12 stanford shopping center san francisco california u.s. 1 founder roy raymond headquarters three limited parkway columbus ohio u.s. number of locations 1 017 company owned stores 18 independently owned stores 2 area served united states canada united kingdom mexico malaysia philippines chile china israel austria ireland poland taiwan and thailand key people lori greeley ceo of victoria s secret stores 3 sharen jester turney ceo and president of victoria s secret megabrand and intimate apparel products underwear women s clothing lingerie swimwear footwear fragrances and beauty products and make up . parent l brands website victoriassecret.com victoria s secret is an american designer manufacturer and marketer of women s premium lingerie womenswear and beauty products . 1 4 5 with 2012 sales of 6.12 billion 6 it is the largest american retailer of women s lingerie . victoria s secret is wholly owned by l brands a publicly traded company . 7 roy raymond opened the first victoria s secret store on june 12 1977 4 at the stanford shopping center after feeling embarrassed trying to purchase lingerie for his wife in an public department store . to open the store he took a 40 000 bank loan and borrowed 40 000 from from his parents to found victoria s secret a store in which men could feel comfortable buying lingerie . 8 raymond picked the name victoria to associate with the refinement of the victorian era . the secret was what was hidden underneath the clothes . 9 the company s first store was located in stanford shopping center in palo alto california . 10 11 the company earned 500 000 in its first year and raymond promptly started a mail order catalog and opened three more stores . 12 in 1982 raymond sold the victoria s secret company with its six stores and 42 page catalogue grossing 6 million per year to leslie wexner the founder of the limited for about 1 million . 8 13 by the early 1990s victoria s secret had become the largest american lingerie retailer topping 1 billion . contents 1 1977 1980 the early years 2 1982 sale to the limited 3 1983 strategy change 4 1983 1990 expansion into malls 5 1990 1993 persistent quality problems 6 1993 1999 nichols resolves quality problems 7 early 2000s decelerating growth leads to brand overhaul 8 2006 2008 growth 9 products and marketing 9.1 current products 9.1.1 pink 9.1.2 swimwear 9.1.3 music cds 9.2 recent product history 9.3 marketing 9.3.1 victoria s secret fashion show 9.3.2 victoria s secret angels 9.3.3 pink spokesmodels 10 reception 11 competitors 12 operating divisions 12.1 victoria s secret stores 12.1.1 international expansion 12.1.2 international franchises 12.2 victoria s secret direct 12.2.1 catalog 12.2.2 e commerce 12.3 victoria s secret beauty 13 corporate affairs 13.1 name 13.2 ownership 13.2.1 victoria s secret stores 13.2.2 victoria s secret direct 13.2.3 victoria s secret beauty 13.3 environmental record 13.4 legal proceedings 13.5 manufacturing 14 controversies 2009 2015 15 scholarly criticism 16 see also 17 references 18 external links 1977 1980 the early years edit victoria s secret grossed 500 000 in its first year of business 11 enough to finance the expansion from a headquarters and warehouse to four new store locations 14 and a mail order operation . 8 by 1980 raymond had added two more san francisco stores at 2246 union street and 115 wisconsin street . by 1982 the fourth store still in the san francisco area was added at 395 sutter street . 15 victoria s secret stayed at that 395 sutter street location until 1990 when it moved to the larger powell street frontage of the westin st. francis . 16 in april 1982 raymond sent out his 12th catalogue ; each catalogue cost 3 equivalent to 7.36 in 2015 . 15 catalogue sales now accounted for 55 % of the company s 7 million annual sales . 15 the victoria s secret stores at this time were a niche player in the underwear market . the business was described as more burlesque than main street . 17 1982 sale to the limited edit raymond s philosophy of focusing on selling lingerie to male customers became increasingly unprofitable and victoria s secret headed for bankruptcy . 18 in 1982 it had grown to six stores a 40 page catalogue and was grossing 5 million annually . raymond sold victoria s secret inc. to leslie wexner in may creator of limited stores inc of columbus ohio for 1 million . 8 19 20 though the figure was not disclosed until later . 19 1983 strategy change edit in 1983 leslie wexner revamped victoria s secret . he discarded the money losing model of selling lingerie to male customers and replaced it with one that focused on female customers . 21 victoria s secret transformed from more burlesque than main street to a mainstay that sold broadly accepted underwear . the new colors patterns and styles that promised sexiness packaged in a tasteful glamorous way and with the snob appeal of european luxury were supposed to appeal to and appease female buyers . 21 to further this image the victoria s secret catalog continued the practice that raymond began 22 listing the company s headquarters on catalogs at a fake london address with the real headquarters in columbus ohio . 21 the stores were redesigned to evoke 19th century england . from at least 1985 through to 1993 victoria s secret sold men s underwear . 23 24 in 1986 four years after the sale the new york times commented in an industry where mark downs have been the norm the new emphasis is on style and service . 25 1983 1990 expansion into malls edit in the five years after the purchase the limited had transformed a three store boutique into a 346 store retailer . 22 contradictory howard gross took over as president from his position as vice president in 1985 . 26 in october that year the los angeles times reported that victoria s secret was stealing market share from department stores ; 27 in 1986 victoria s secret was the only national chain of lingerie stores . 25 the new york times reported on victoria s secret s rapid expansion from four stores in 1982 to 100 in 1986 ; and analysts s expectations that it could expand to 400 by 1988 . 25 28 in 1987 victoria s secret was reportedly among the best selling catalogs . 29 in 1990 analysts estimated that sales had quadrupled in four years making it one of the fastest growing mail order businesses . 30 the new york times described it as a highly visible leader saying it used unabashedly sexy high fashion photography to sell middle priced underwear . 31 victoria s secret also released their own line of fragrances in 1992 . 32 1990 1993 persistent quality problems edit by the early 1990s victoria s secret faced a gap in management that led to the once hot lingerie chain to be plagued by persistent quality problems . 33 34 howard gross who had grown the company into a lingerie empire 35 since wexner s 1982 purchase was moved to poorly performing l brands subsidiary limited stores . 33 business week reported that both divisions have suffered . 33 1993 1999 nichols resolves quality problems edit grace nichols who was president and ceo at that time 36 worked to resolve the quality problems ; 35 their margins tightened resulting in a slower growth of profits . 33 victoria s secret introduced the miracle bra selling two million within the first year but faced competition from sara lee s wonderbra a year later . the company responded to their rival with a tv campaign . 37 by 1998 victoria s secret s market share of the intimate apparel market was 14 percent . 38 that year victoria s secret also entered the 3.5 billion cosmetic market . 39 in 1999 the company aimed to increase its coverage with the body by victoria brand . 40 early 2000s decelerating growth leads to brand overhaul edit in may 2000 wexner installed sharen jester turney previously of neiman marcus direct as the new chief executive of victoria s secret direct to turn around catalog sales that were lagging behind other divisions . 41 42 forbes reported turney articulating as she flipped through a victoria s secret catalog we need to quit focusing on all that cleavage . 41 in 2000 turney began to redefine victoria s secret catalog from breasts spilling over the tops of black purple and reptile print underthings to one that would appeal to an upscale customer who now feels more comfortable buying la perla or wolford lingerie . ; 41 dimming the hooker looks such as tight jeans and stilettos ; and moving from a substitute for playboy in some dorm rooms to something closer to a vogue lifestyle layout where lingerie sleepwear clothes and cosmetics appear throughout the catalog . 41 beginning in 2000 grace nichols ceo of victoria s secret direct led a similar change at victoria s secret s stores moving away from an evocation of 1800s england or a victorian bordello . 41 2006 2008 growth edit by 2006 victoria s secret s 1 000 stores across the united states accounted for one third of all purchases in the intimate apparel industry . 43 in may 2006 wexner promoted sharen jester turney from the victoria s secret catalog and online units to lead the whole company . 17 in 2008 she acknowledged product quality that doesn t equal the brand s hype . 44 in september 2006 victoria s secret reportedly tried to make their catalog feel more like magazines by head hunting writers from women s wear daily . 45 products and marketing edit in the early 1980s victoria s secret used fcb leber katz partners for the development of their brand marketing and advertising . 46 in 1989 fcb leber katz partners and victoria s secret executed a national advertising campaign featuring for the first time in the company history a ten page glossy insert that appeared in the november issues of elle vogue vanity fair victoria house beautiful bon appetit new woman and people magazines . 47 victoria s secret used the insert to announce their expansion into the toiletries and fragrance business . 47 up through to the ten page insert victoria s secret growth had been driven by their catalog sporadic ads in fashion publications and word of mouth . 47 current products edit pink edit victoria s secret pink store nyc main article pink victoria s secret swimwear edit in 2002 swimwear was introduced and available via the web site and catalog ; in the last three years the swimwear has become more readily available in stores . 48 in 2016 it was reported that the brand was refocusing several areas of the business including swim . 49 music cds edit with five cds featuring romantic classical music that have sold more than one million copies each victoria s secret in 1992 hired the london symphony orchestra to