# Question for the ladies - Victoria Secrets closing. Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 2, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433 "2019-03-02T14:58:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/1 "2019-03-02T14:58:39Z")
It was announced that many Victoria Secrets stores are closing. I asked my wife about this and she said she hasnt shopped their in years. She said it was overpriced and over rated plus nothing fit her. She used to drag me in there when she was shopping and I felt pretty embarrassed. What do you ladies say? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/2 "2019-03-02T15:03:55Z")
I’ve never been in one or had any interest in them - maybe lacking my business, they tanked? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/3 "2019-03-02T15:46:26Z")
Is it me, or was lingerie like VS kind of a 90’s-early 00’s thing? Also back then, you had VS, another mall store with more risque stuff (can’t think of the name), and Frederick’s for mail order. Now you can go online and get about anything you want. I also wonder if it has something to do with places like Target having a decent lineup of womens intimates now. I’ve never been embarrassed to be in a VS or whatnot. I’ll hang out right there with my wife while she shops. I do try to be aware of other shoppers though, and I’ll bail if it seems like my presence is making anyone else uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/4 "2019-03-02T16:03:48Z")
Probably the same reason other retailers are closing. Very few people want to go shopping in brick-in-mortar stores when online shopping is so much easier. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/5 "2019-03-02T16:10:15Z")
It was a very niche group of buyers. I never had time for that crap. The lil’wrekker and her girlfriends really liked the ‘Pink’ line of stuff they had. I think that has separated from VS, though. IDK, I won’t miss it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/6 "2019-03-02T16:27:21Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Probably the same reason other retailers are closing. Very few people want to go shopping in brick-in-mortar stores when online shopping is so much easier. I’m a guy so I’m probably clueless, but I used to watch the UK version of What Not To Wear, when it was on BBC America (in those long-ago days when BBC America actually showed British programmes). One thing they did sometimes as part of the makeover was to take the woman to get properly sized for a bra. (There was one woman whom I remember was wearing such an undersized bra that they described her as having four breasts, because they were spilling over the top of the ones she was wearing.) So proper sizing is one thing a bricks and mortar store can do that an online store can’t. (Although, perhaps, you only need that done once, and from then on, you can shop online.) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/7 "2019-03-02T16:55:31Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > It was announced that many Victoria Secrets stores are closing. I have a friend who works for the chain in a managerial capacity, and I happen to be talking to her right now! She takes issue with your statement that I’ve quoted here. The chain has over 1,000 company owned store as well as a few independently owned stores. The closing of as many as 53 is a planned loss of stores that were under-performing. She speculates that poor sales in those stores is tied to poor sales in general in mall locations. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/8 "2019-03-02T17:01:48Z")
Because I’m an average-sized woman and nothing I ever tried on there fit. It was skinny girl, B-cup city. Also, lace itches. More recently, bilateral mastectomy. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/9 "2019-03-02T17:06:00Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > She said it was overpriced and over rated plus nothing fit her. I’m not a woman so I’m not answering the question of course. I’ve seen this posted on other platforms about this story. I found it curious because in my limited experience I was told the opposite. My ex-wife is large up top and she would drag me in to the store because it was one of the few places she could find something. Maybe others can expound. With the failure of many other brick and mortar stores especially in malls it’s interesting I’m seeing much more speculation for this story. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/10 "2019-03-02T17:34:32Z")
Everything they make that I’ve seen is all sleazy nylon and microfiber–I only wear natural fabrics but they obviously think cotton is yucky and silk too expensive for the mall crowd, plus it’s all sized for scarecrows and lace really IS itchy so what’s the point of even going in there? It’s not practical underwear nor is it really well done lingerie, it’s a Middle American idea of what “sexy undies” ought to be. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/11 "2019-03-02T17:41:35Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > …it’s a Middle American idea of what “sexy undies” ought to be. And that right there is why VS is a lie. Because it’s a well known fact that the sexiest undies are the ones falling to your floor. Ask anyone interested in the female form, “You want one of them models (whom you don’t even know) in some of that complicated see through fabric, or do you want this right here, right now?” It won’t matter if you’re wearing flour sack stitched together with yarn, if that’s what you’re prepared to take off/nudge to the side, it’s business time. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/12 "2019-03-02T18:14:51Z")
Not a woman but had read an article discussing that they were losing business to lines emphasizing comfort and more accepting the bodies women have with models that are more real people. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/13 "2019-03-02T18:23:43Z")
Their prices are very high for what they offer, and they have made a point of not offering anything for plus size women - which is a market they can’t afford to alienate. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/14 "2019-03-02T18:26:06Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I have a friend who works for the chain in a managerial capacity, and I happen to be talking to her right now! > > She takes issue with your statement that I’ve quoted here. The chain has over 1,000 company owned store as well as a few independently owned stores. The closing of as many as 53 is a planned loss of stores that were under-performing. She speculates that poor sales in those stores is tied to poor sales in general in mall locations. Yup, the OP apparently misheard or misunderstood the news. > **[Victoria's Secret says it is shuttering 53 more stores](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/02/28/victorias-secret-store-closings-l-brands-shuttering-53-locations/3020995002/)** > > Thursday was a tough day for retail. Victoria's Secret is closing 53 more stores, J.C. Penney 24 stores and Gap is closing about 230 locations. Retailers regularly assess the performance of individual locations, and close poor-performing ones if they can’t get them turned around; the article notes that the rate of store closures for VS in the last year or two has been higher than usual, which, as **kayaker** ’s friend notes, might be related to weak sales in malls, generally, as well as VS not being the hot, popular brand among young women that it was a decade or more ago. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/15 "2019-03-02T18:28:30Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > It was announced that many Victoria Secrets stores are closing. > > I asked my wife about this and she said she hasnt shopped their in years. She said it was overpriced and over rated plus nothing fit her. She used to drag me in there when she was shopping and I felt pretty embarrassed. > > What do you ladies say? Victoria’s Secret is for women? I thought it was for guys with a lace fetish. Well, and lesbians who like seeing other women dressed in extremely uncomfortable underclothes. Other women with relatively-little on the way of curves, BTW. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > proper sizing is one thing a bricks and mortar store can do that an online store can’t. (Although, perhaps, you only need that done once, and from then on, you can shop online.) It needs to be redone occasionally, but if your weight hasn’t changed more than 10lb or so and your hormonal status is the same as last time, you’re not going to be noticeably off. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/16 "2019-03-02T18:30:40Z")
My very scientific poll of two has returned the conclusion that the quality has gone down. Town Shop in Manhattan was recommended as the best bra store ever, for those near there. I didn’t get the impression that it’s a chain. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/17 "2019-03-02T18:35:22Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > proper sizing is one thing a bricks and mortar store can do that an online store can’t. (Although, perhaps, you only need that done once, and from then on, you can shop online.) It needs to be redone occasionally, but if your weight hasn’t changed more than 10lb or so and your hormonal status is the same as last time, you’re not going to be noticeably off. But for bras, model is important for fit, not just size: I’m not just a 100C/110D (depending on how my weight has been behaving), I’m a 100C/110D in Intimissimi’s Sofia model. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/18 "2019-03-02T18:41:53Z")
Victoria’s Secret. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/19 "2019-03-02T18:55:32Z")
back in the 80’s I bought from their catalog, soft cotton cami’s, a nightgown, beach coverup. It was a catalog in the jpeterman style, Victoria’s Secret. Then it morphed to a brand I generally dislike with winged models in ugly thongs. I also used to buy strictly from the Spiegel catalogs too, great fashion! I find mall shopping very frustrating most times. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433/20 "2019-03-02T19:16:15Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’m a guy so I’m probably clueless, but I used to watch the UK version of What Not To Wear, when it was on BBC America (in those long-ago days when BBC America actually showed British programmes). One thing they did sometimes as part of the makeover was to take the woman to get properly sized for a bra. (There was one woman whom I remember was wearing such an undersized bra that they described her as having four breasts, because they were spilling over the top of the ones she was wearing.) So proper sizing is one thing a bricks and mortar store can do that an online store can’t. (Although, perhaps, you only need that done once, and from then on, you can shop online.) I’ve not shopped in one- been in, but they didn’t stock my size- but I’ve multiple times come across the comment, in bra discussions, ‘Get yourself sized properly, not just at Victoria’s Secret or somewhere like that, but a proper bra shop’. Checking the website, they do a cup size range from AA to DDD (E in UK size), only between a 30" back and a 40" back (with a restricted range at 30" and 40"). That’s a seriously crap range for a supposed lingerie shop; even the local supermarket brand has a few up to G, the local proper bra shop goes AA to K, 28" to 44". (UK sizes go AA, A, B, C, D, DD, E, F, FF, G, GG, H, HH, J, JJ, K… so it’s an even bigger range difference than it first appears). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-ladies-victoria-secrets-closing-why/830433.md?page=2)