L Brands

L Brands Inc.
Public
Traded as NYSE: LB
S&P 500 Component
Industry Retailing
Founded 1963 (1963)
Founder Leslie H. Wexner
Headquarters Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Key people
 Les Wexner, CEO
Products Clothing, fashion accessory
Revenue Increase US$ 10.773 Billion (2013)[1]
Increase US$ 1.743 Billion (2013)[1]
Increase US$ 903 Million (2013)[1]
Total assets Decrease US$ 6.019 Billion (2012)[2]
Total equity Decrease US$ -820 Million (2013)[2]
Number of employees
 94,600 (2014)[3]
Subsidiaries Victoria's Secret
PINK
Bath & Body Works
Henri Bendel
La Senza
Website www.lb.com

L Brands Inc. (formerly known as Limited Brands Inc and The Limited Inc.) is an American fashion retailer based in Columbus, Ohio.

Its flagship brands include Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works. L Brands posted $10.5 billion in revenue in 2013, and was listed as #258 in the 2013 Fortune 500 list of top companies.

History

Early history

In 1912, Bella Cabakoff emigrated with her parents from Russia to Columbus, Ohio, to escape persecution. At age 21, she became the youngest buyer for the Lazarus department store chain. However, after spending over 20 years with Lazarus, in 1951 she and her husband Harry Wexner opened a women's clothing store named Leslie's (after their son) on State Street. This store became the training ground for Leslie "Les" Wexner. In 1963, he borrowed $5,000 from his aunt and $5,000 from the bank and opened a store at the Kingsdale Shopping Center in Upper Arlington, Ohio. This store was named "The Limited" because the store focused on clothing for younger women, unlike his parents' general merchandise store. Later in 1964, Bella and Harry closed their store to join their son in his venture.

The original board consisted of only the three family members and longtime friend Jim Waldron, who served as Senior Vice President. Bella Wexner served as secretary until her death in 2001, Harry as chairman, who served until his death in 1975, and Leslie succeeded his father as the chairman and later became CEO. As of 2014 he and his family continue to own 17% of LB. In 1969, Wexner took The Limited Brands public on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1977, The Limited moved into its main headquarters on Morse Road in Columbus, from which it still operates today.

Acquisitions

The 1980s started a string of acquisitions. In 1982, the Victoria's Secret brand, store, and catalogue were purchased from Roy Raymond for $1 million.[4] Also in 1982, 207 Lane Bryant stores were purchased. In 1985, a single Henri Bendel store was purchased for $10 million and 798 Lerner stores for $297 million. Finally, in 1988, 25 Abercrombie & Fitch stores were purchased for $46 million. In 1996 The Limited phased out its ownership of the A&F brand, when it was spun off into a publicly traded company.[5]

The 1990s saw the initial development of the Limited Too, Bath & Body Works, Structure, and Victoria's Secret Beauty. Later in 1998, several Bath & Body Works stores were converted to The White Barn Candle Company stores to begin a home fragrance brand.

In 2005 Limited Brands purchased home fragrance manufacturer Slatkin & Company.[6]

On August 3, 2007, Limited Brands sold 75% ownership of its flagship Limited chain. In 2010, the remaining 25% shares to buyout firm Sun Capital Partners Inc. Stefan M. Selig from Bank of America was involved in these deals.[7]

Brands

L Brands currently operates the following retail brands:

Although not part of L Brands, they also have distribution rights (exclusive or non-exclusive) for the following brands:

Previous brands that were spun off include:

References

  1. 1 2 3 Limited Brands (LTD) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest
  2. 1 2 Limited Brands (LTD) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest
  3. ↑ http://www.forbes.com/companies/l-brands/. Retrieved 2015-03-26. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ http://www.lb.com/our_company/about_us/timeline.aspx
  5. ↑ "COMPANY NEWS; LIMITED TO SPIN OFF ITS STAKE IN ABERCROMBIE & FITCH". http://www.nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 14 January 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  6. ↑ Dash, Eric (13 May 2005). "Limited Is Said To Be Buying Home Fragrance Maker". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  7. ↑ Dana, Mattioli (7 November 2013). "Bank of America's Selig Nominated for Commerce Department Post". WSJ. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  8. ↑ Limited Brands spins off last of its apparel stores, 2007 Associated Press/The Philadelphia Inquirer.

External links

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