MILLIONAIRE SECRETS

 The epidemic cost Dublin's Victoria's Secret shop €7.5 million.

The Covid-19 effect on business cost the main Victoria's Secret store on Dublin's Grafton Street €7.57 million or 73% of revenues last year.

According to updated financial records, the Grafton Street store's revenues for the year ending in January 2021 totaled €2.84 million for the high-end lingerie brand company, VS Fashion Retail Ireland Ltd.

This is a 73% decrease from pre-Covid-19 revenues of €10.4 million in the 12 months leading up to the end of January 2020.

On December 5, 2017, around 500 people, mostly women, stood in line outside the 2,700 square meter store as it opened with considerable excitement.

The chants of "VS Dublin" from the waiting Victoria's Secret fans rapidly turned into actual cash for the lingerie business, which in its first 60 days of operation here recorded revenues of €3.88 million, or an average daily income of €64,666.

Victoria's Secret utilized its broadcast annual fashion show with models like Kendall Jenner Gigi and Bella Hadid as a marketing tool throughout the world for many years until ending the presentation in 2019 owing to declining viewership.

After British retailer Next purchased a majority 51 percent ownership in the company as part of a larger agreement for Victoria's Secret's operations across Ireland and the UK, a new joint venture started running the Grafton Street store in October 2020.

Short-term shop closure

The Grafton Street store was temporarily closed, its hours were shortened, fewer people visited the store, and they spent less money, according to a notation that was just included in the new records detailing the effects of COVID-19. Products were also delayed in shipment.

The company recorded a €509,000 benefit from a rent concession resulting from a COVID-19 rent concession given by its landlord, according to the records.

The firm was able to post a gain of €13 million on a sublease of the Grafton Street property as a result of the new joint venture with Next, and as a result, the company recorded a pre-tax profit of €12.4 million for the 12 months ending at the end of January 2021.

This came after a fiscal 2020 pre-tax profit of €2.55 million.

The number of employees decreased from 84 to 52 last year, while personnel costs decreased from €1.77 million to €527,000.

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