Victoria’s Secret to permanently close 250 stores across the US and Canada citing pandemic cripples its business

Victoria’s Secret has announced on Wednesday that the company plans to permanently close 250 stores in the US and Canada in 2020, citing that the coronavirus pandemic has crippled its business.

Brand’s parent company ‘L Brands’, announced the news in a commentary alongside its first-quarter earnings results after the market’s close. Victoria’s Secret has 849 stores in North America.

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Owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the majority of these locations have remained closed since March in the US.

It was a few weeks ago when the parent company, L Brands, confirmed about a deal to sell a majority stake in the company to the private-equity firm Sycamore Partners had fallen through.

Analysts were speculating on Sycamore to administer a turnaround at Victoria’s Secret and reposition the brand for the future after several years of sliding sales.

However, Sycamore Partners filed a lawsuit to back out of the deal in April, alleging that Victoria’s Secret’s moves during the coronavirus pandemic to close stores, cut back on new inventory, and not pay rent for the month of April were in violation of the agreement that the two parties had signed in February.