Word: bathing
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...1960s, when middle America bought clothes at department stores, Wexner started a boutiquey chain of shops called the Limited. But now that competitors have flooded the specialty apparel scene and mall fashion has gone commodity, Wexner is changing his game, looking for growth from personal care at Bath & Body Works, from lingerie at Victoria's Secret--which is undergoing aggressive expansion of its own--and from accessories at Henri Bendel. (To understand the reason for this strategy, look no further than the Limited's second-quarter results: ongoing disarray at its Express clothing division dragged down the entire company...
...generally speaking, is to reposition things that are essentially commodities (coffee, sandwiches, vodka) by convincing the mass market that it needs a better version (Starbucks, Panera Bread, Grey Goose). Scarcity is stripped from the equation: in the new luxury math, there is a Starbucks on every corner and a Bath & Body Works in every suburban shopping mall...
...exactly, do you trade up an entire company? First, you stop the downward spiral. When Fiske took over Bath & Body Works in February 2003, same-store sales were skidding, having dropped 3% in 2002 and 11% the year before. Former CEO Beth Pritchard built the chain from nothing to 1,600 stores and $1.8 billion in revenue in just 10 years, but consumers were growing tired of folksy fare like Juniper Breeze shampoo gift baskets and were starting to find palatable alternatives in drugstores and discount chains, which had begun an upscale lurch of their own. Fiske came in, began...
Today the company is in the midst of a full-scale makeover. To reach a broader customer base, Fiske has broken the chain into three tiers: starting at the bottom with the core Bath & Body Works store, moving up to the Bath & Body Works flagship store (which may also offer services like aesthetician consultations) and finally to top-of-the-line C.O. Bigelow--a retro "apothecary" meant to draw customers from competitors like Sephora and the Nordstrom cosmetics counter. "Segmentation unlocks growth potential," says Fiske. The underlying idea at all the stores is to stock products that don't just...
...Fiske and his team are pumping sales is by creating brands with buzz that customers have to trek to Bath & Body Works to find. In addition to making antiaging cleanser and lip plumper with Wexler, Fiske has paired up with L'Occitane to sell the new Le Couvent des Minimes line of bath salts and pillow mists and with the American Girl doll company to make body wash and hair gel aimed at tweens. Bath & Body Works has bought other brands outright. In late 2003 the company snapped up the C.O. Bigelow name and this June swallowed Slatkin...