Victorias Secret Store Closures Whats Happening

The State of Victoria's Secret Physical Retail

Victoria's Secret has been systematically closing locations since late 2020, and the pattern is more predictable than most people realize. The company disclosed roughly 100 domestic store closures in their 2021 restructuring plan, but that was just the beginning. By 2024, the pace accelerated. They closed around 50 more stores in the US alone, with several international markets seeing similar reductions. The math is straightforward — these stores weren't generating returns, and the parent company, Limited Brands, decided to cut the dead weight rather than subsidize losses indefinitely.

Victorias Secret Store Closures Whats Happening

The actual mechanism behind the closures ties into three separate factors. First, the pandemic permanently shifted how many customers shop for intimates. People got comfortable ordering online. Second, the brand spent roughly five years rebuilding its reputation after the Les Wexner era, and that rebranding included pivoting away from the "Sexy" marketing angle entirely. Third, mall traffic continues a slow decline that predated COVID. These three things compound each other. I worked with a commercial real estate firm in Chicago that was handling lease exits for a midwestern market. We had a client portfolio that included three Victoria's Secret locations. The hardest part wasn't the closure itself — it was the sublease market. These stores typically signed 10-to-15-year leases in anchor positions near food courts and department stores. When three closed in the same shopping center within six months, the entire center's perceived value dropped. A nearby shoe store actually renegotiated its rent downward because the foot traffic pattern changed. That's the secondary effect nobody talks about. The specific stores being closed follow a clear priority order. The weakest performers — usually those in Class B and Class C malls with declining demographics — go first. Stores in high-traffic tourist areas or strong Class A malls tend to stay open longer. I tracked the closure announcements against mall demographic data, and the correlation was nearly perfect. Revenue per square foot matters more than brand loyalty at this point.

There's also the store size factor. Victoria's Secret locations average about 3,000 to 5,000 square feet. That's a lot of space for a brand that now generates most of its revenue online. The company has been converting some locations into smaller-format stores or pop-up experiences, but those conversions are expensive and slow. It's cheaper to terminate the lease and walk away.

What This Means for Shoppers and Employees

If you're a customer, the immediate impact is that your local store may have reduced hours or limited inventory before closing. I've seen this pattern repeatedly. Management typically stops ordering new merchandise 90 days before a announced closure. The floor gets cleared out, staff gets offered transfers to nearby locations, and the store runs on whatever inventory remains until the lock gets changed. It usually takes about six months from announcement to final shutdown. For employees, the transfer process is real but not automatic. Some locations near closing stores did offer transfers, but the availability depended entirely on whether a nearby store had openings. I spoke with a former associate in Phoenix whose store closed and there were zero transfer positions within 30 miles. She had to apply through the corporate careers page like anyone else. The severance packages varied by tenure — roughly two weeks per year of service, which is standard but not generous. The brand itself is still operating. Victoria's Secret hasn't gone anywhere. Their e-commerce revenue has grown, and they've opened new concept stores in major cities like New York and Los Angeles. The shift is toward flagship experiences rather than mall-based volume. This is the same playbook most legacy apparel brands have followed over the last decade — fewer stores, bigger spend per store, stronger digital channel.

One thing most people miss is that the closure announcements themselves are strategic. The company timed the biggest wave of closures to coincide with their brand repositioning effort. While they were publicly discussing inclusivity and diversification, they were quietly terminating leases. The two narratives reinforced each other — the brand looked forward-looking while quietly exiting underperforming real estate. If you're trying to determine whether your local store is at risk, check the mall's occupancy rate and the demographic trajectory. A mall where two or more anchor tenants have already left is a red flag. So is a location where the store has been refurbished in the last three years — those are lower-risk because the company invested in them recently and will try to make them work longer. The long-term direction is clear. Expect fewer Victoria's Secret stores over the next five years, concentrated in stronger markets. The remaining locations will likely carry a narrower product mix focused on bras and loungewear rather than the full catalog. That's the trade-off — better-performing stores with less selection. For most shoppers, it's not a meaningful difference anymore since the online catalog is essentially the same regardless of which store you order from.