In a possible commentary on how the coronavirus pandemic has changed shopping habits, between 30 and 50 Victoria’s Secret stores will close in 2021 while its sister store, Bath & Body Works, will open 50 new locations.
The two chains are owned by parent company L Brands, which posted the closing and opening news as part of theirquarterly earnings Wednesday.
Last spring, L Brands announced plans to permanently close up to 250 Victoria’s Secret stores and up to 50 Bath & Body Works by the end of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic closed retail locations and kept shoppers away.
Bath & Body Works, which specializes in lotions, hand sanitizers and soaps, ended up only closing 30 U.S. stores last year and opened 26 new locations outside of malls, while renovating another 29 locations.
The new Bath & Body Works locations in 2021 will be “almost entirely off-mall” L Brands said in a release, while they will close up to 40 locations that are inside malls.
Meanwhile, Victoria’s Secret has seen declining sales and closed around 200 locations in 2020. L Brands is considering plans to spin off the brand into a separate company for a possible sale.