Victoria's Secret Chief Is Out Amid Declining Sales

By Khadeeja Safdar 

Jan Singer, CEO of Victoria's Secret lingerie division, is departing the company amid declining sales, according to people familiar with the matter.

Ms. Singer, who has been at the company for about two years, joined from Spanx, where she served as CEO for approximately two years. Prior to that, she spent more than a decade as an executive at Nike Inc.

Since she was hired at Victoria's Secret, Ms. Singer has launched bra styles emphasizing comfort and fit, in an attempt to appeal to shoppers looking for more natural looks. But the unit of L Brands Inc. has continued to struggle.

Last quarter, Victoria's Secret reported lower sales at the flagship brand as well as its teen brand Pink, prompting analysts to question executives about the retailer's marketing message and heavy use of discounts. Ms. Singer at the time defended the company's strategy, saying the most-recent additions to the product line were performing well. L Brands is slated to release its latest quarterly results next Monday.

L Brands's longtime Chairman and Chief Executive Les Wexner has been trying to turn around the company's results. In the past few months, he has moved to eliminate smaller brands such as handbag seller Henri Bendel from his portfolio to focus on the company's core lingerie business.

Write to Khadeeja Safdar at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 14, 2018 11:29 ET (16:29 GMT)

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