La Senza Corporation is a Canadian fashion retailer that sells women's lingerie and intimate apparel. The La Senza brand is currently owned by Regent which operates and owns La Senza stores in Canada and the United States and uses a franchise model for the operation of stores outside Canada and the United States.
History
La Senza was founded in Canada by Lawrence Lewin and Irving Teitelbaum, who opened the company's first store in 1990. In October 2006, La Senza was purchased by L Brands of Columbus, Ohio for $710 million CAD in cash. At its peak in 2010, there were over 800 La Senza stores worldwide, with over 320 locations in Canada. By 2013, La Senza closed over two-thirds of its Canadian locations, including redundant and spin-off stores. Reasons for the brand's decline included discontinuing products that Canadians preferred, such as PJs, and the rising popularity of Victoria's Secret and Pink stores, which currently serve as the main focus for L Brands in Canada. Stuart Burgdoerfer, vice-president and CFO of L Brands, said of La Senza: “There are signs of optimism there, but we are not at all accepting of the current result that we have.” By January 2017, there were 329 La Senza stores worldwide, including 122 in Canada and four in the United States. As of 2019, La Senza employed over 2,000 associates globally and currently operates 130 company-owned stores in the United States and Canada and an additional 187 stores via its international franchise partners spanning 36 countries across the Middle East, Northern Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and South East Asia. In January 2019, L Brands sold the La Senza business to Regent, a Beverly Hills-based private equity firm controlled by investor Michael Reinstein. In January 2020, Regent began downsizing the change with 17 stores in Canada to be closed with increased competition. The store closure count increased amid COVID-19 to 30 Canadian locations.
Products
La Senza's products focus on lingerie and nightwear but also include loungewear, daywear, and accessories. The concept is similar to that of Victoria's Secret, which is owned by La Senza’s previous parent company, L Brands corporation.
Operating structure
From 2000 to 2006, La Senza was sold by L Brands in January 2019 to Regent and now operates as an independent company.
Businessman Theo Paphitis bought the United Kingdom and Ireland franchise, called La Senza UK, and began expanding it, eventually with sub-franchises in other parts of the European Union. In July 2006, Paphitis sold the company to private equity company Lion Capital, for a reported £100m. Paphitis left the board and is no longer a shareholder, and in the Spring of 2011 set up the new lingerie firm Boux Avenue. On 23 December 2011, La Senza UK filed for administration citing "trading conditions" as one of the conditions for closure. The company stated that it had 2,600 UK staff at 146 stores and 18 concessions, and announced plans to close 80 stores. On 9 January 2012, Kuwait based international retail franchise operator Alshaya announced it had reached agreement to take control of much of the ongoing La Senza business in the UK. Under an agreement with KPMG, administrators to La Senza UK, Alshaya UK Limited acquired exclusive franchise rights for the La Senza brand in the UK for an undisclosed sum. Alshaya said it would retain 60 stores, securing around 1,100 jobs while ensuring the continuation of a strong and popular brand on the UK high street. The deal and subsequent plans for the business, which included new product collections and store redesigns, represented a planned investment of around £100m in the UK retail sector over the next two years by Alshaya. Difficult trading conditions however continued and by June 2014 administrators were once again appointed to the struggling UK sector of the La Senza business. By this time the group was under the ownership of Marnixheath, which was operating 55 stores in the UK, employing 752 people. L Brands later acquired all of the assets and intellectual property of the UK business.
Production
La Senza manufactures some of its products near Kancheepuram in South India. La Senza operates out of malls in India as well.
Clothing lines and labels
; Defunct La Senza owned and operated other labels, including La Senza Girl clothing stores for teenagers as well as clothing for younger children, La Senza Express stores for bras and panties, and La Senza Spirit for activewear.
Lola and Coco
In 2008, La Senza launched Lola and Coco by La Senza, aimed at high school and university students, much like Pink by Victoria's Secret.
In 2008, the creator of The Pussycat Dolls, Robin Antin, was asked to design a Pussycat Doll-inspired lingerie collection for the La Senza brand. The collection uses fabrics imported from Italy and Spain.
