Victoria’s Secret parent company L Brands Inc. will close HenriBendel.com and the 23 Henri Bendel stores it operates at the end of January.
The move is part of the retailer’s efforts to “improve company profitability and focus on our larger brands that have greater growth potential,” says Leslie Wexner, chairman and CEO of L Brands, No. 26 in the Internet Retailer 3018 Top 1000, in a statement.
L Brands reported $147 million in net income for the first six months of its fiscal 2018 last week, down 37% from $233 million a year earlier. The company estimates Henri Bendel will generate $85 million in revenue across digital and stores this year, but will lose $45 million in operational costs.
Henri Bendel sells handbags, jewelry and other accessory products online and through company-owned stores. The retailer debuted in New York City in 1895. L Brands acquired it in 1985.
Measured by web traffic, HenriBendel.com is by far the smallest e-commerce site L Brands operates. HenriBendel.com averaged 257,000 visits a month during the six-month period measured from March 2018 to August 2018, according to SimilarWeb Ltd. data. During the same period VictoriasSecret.com averaged 16.3 million monthly visits, BathandBodyWorks.com averaged 9.7 million monthly visits and LaSenza.com measured 800,000 monthly visits.
Favorite