Victoria's Secret & Co. has appointed Hillary Super, as their new CEO effective September 9, replacing Martin Waters who stepped down after less than two years. Super, 52, previously led the turnaround of Anthropologie's business and held leadership roles at Guess, Ann Taylor Inc., American Eagle Outfitters, Gap Inc., and Rihanna's lingerie brand Savage X Fenty.
Victoria's Secret, a major retailer with $1.4 billion in net sales in Q1 2022, 30,000 employees, and 1,370 stores globally, hired Super to lead the brand's transformation and accelerate growth in North America.
The company had been struggling with declining demand and competition.
Timothy Johnson will serve as interim CEO until Super's arrival. Waters will serve as an advisor until the end of August.
Super will be the third CEO of Victoria's Secret in four years.
Victoria's Secret expects preliminary Q2 results to exceed the company's guidance for adjusted operating income, and adjusted earnings per share, with sequential improvement in quarterly sales in North America. The company credits the growth to disciplined inventory management and cost structure improvements.
Victoria's Secret board cited Super's merchant leadership capabilities and understanding of the consumer landscape as reasons for the choice.
Shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. jumped 18% to $22.50 in pre-market trading on the news of Super's appointment and positive preliminary Q2 results. The company's stock dropped 28% since the beginning of the year.
Victoria's Secret, which was spun off by L Brands in August 2021, reported a 3.4% revenue decrease year-over-year in May. L Brands founder Leslie Wexner, the 508th world's richest person with a $6 billion net worth, bought Victoria's Secret for $1 million in 1982 and had planned to resign in 2020. A sale to Sycamore Partners fell due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Sources: WSJ, Bloomberg , Forbes, NYPost, MarketWatch, La Voz, Benzinga, The Impression, Gazzetta di Parma, Retail Dive, Dispatch, Milano Finanza, Gulf News, Gazzetta di Mantova, Fibre2Fashion, ANSA, Daily Mail, Stockstar.
This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.
