Victoria's Secret to open first Australian flagship store

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
May 29, 2018

Victoria's Secret will open a flagship store in Melbourne before Christmas, which will see the US lingerie giant stock its entire apparel, intimates and beauty range for the first time under one retail roof in Australia.

The L Brands-owned retailer will open its debut store in Melbourne's Chadstone shopping mall -- one of Australia's most popular destinations for international retail openings and luxury brand arrivals -- and will stock Victoria's Secret's complete collection, which has been limited to underwear and fragrance previously.

For the first time, Australians will be able to shop the full assortment of Victoria’s Secret lingerie collections, including Body by Victoria, Very Sexy, Dream Angels, Bombshell, Cotton lingerie, as well as the brand’s athletic line Victoria Sport.

That's in addition to Victoria’s Secret signature scents, body care collections and Victoria’s Secret PINK, the brand's millennial range targeted at college students.

While a date hasn't yet been confirmed, it is understood an opening is slated for the latter part of this year. The opening is in partnership with lifestyle and luxury group, Valiram.

L Brands has been struggling with its physical retail footprint, announcing a 5% drop in in-store comparable sales in the first quarter.

In the same quarter, total sales rose 3% to $1.58 billion, however, profit fell almost 50% to $47.5 million.

At the time of reporting, the group said it hopes to improve physical store sales in the coming months by growing its customer database and improving its product range.

“Our stores provide us with the opportunity to personally interact with customers during nearly 400 million visits annually," said L Brands, in a statement.

“While we continue to see positive signs from newer product launches, traffic levels in stores continues to be negative. We will continue to drive traffic, engagement and conversion with performance marketing. We are testing new ideas like the catalogue we mailed this month with early encouraging customer response.”

L Brands currently operates 21 Victoria's Secret points-of-sale across Australia in cities such as Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, as well as inside the international and domestic terminals of major airports.