SHOPPING--VICTORIA'S SECRET

[Guest guest]

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

'Tweens take to 's Secret

By JANE M. VON BERGEN

Knight Ridder Newspapers

En route to a dressing room, Lily Feingold and Brittany Garrison,

both 11, barely glanced at the nearly nude mannequin in her red-

tasseled bra and high-cut panties at 's Secret - one of

their favorite stores.

" We don't use that, " Brittany said, nodding toward the bra.

Neither Lily nor Brittany would have much use for any of

Secret's bras, actually. " They're still outwardly mobile, " joked

Lily's mother, Suzanne Bonsall Feingold.

Marketing experts call Lily and Brittany's yearnings " aspirational, "

and that aspiration may explain why the girls and many of their

friends are regular 's Secret customers, despite their age.

The company says it is absolutely not marketing to this young a

customer. But experts say that in a society where sexuality is

omnipresent, young girls inevitably will look to a time when they

can become sophisticated young women like those they see on TV.

Or maybe they just like those cute lounge pants with the hearts and

the glitter.

" We don't market to that age group, " said Hebron, a

's Secret spokesman. " Our typical customer ranges from 20 to

in her 40s. "

Oops. Somebody forgot to tell Lily and Brittany.

Shopping recently at a Philadelphia mall, the girls headed directly

to a 's Secret department called " Pink. " Hebron said the

concept was introduced last year.

Pink's target market is the college woman 19 or older. " It's what

you see around the dorm, " he said. " It's the fun, playful stuff she

needs, but still fashionable. "

If there are purple-pantied mannequins in see-through negligees on

one side of the store, the Pink side is somewhere between G and PG-

13, with stuffed animals, rhinestone-bedecked lounge pants in pink,

and shirts decorated with Pink's trademark mascot, a pink dog.

Even the heart-covered thongs are more cute than racy.

It doesn't surprise retail experts that 'tweens like Lily and

Brittany enjoy 's Secret.

" It's something mature, something sophisticated, " said

on, who heads TwentySomething, a Radnor marketing company

focused on younger consumers.

Even though the girls browse in the " Pink " part of the store, they

see the other merchandise and can aspire to being older and living

the lives they see on TV and online, he said.

" They can't put their full finger on what it means, but they know

it's desirable, " he said.

What's helping 's Secret, said Marty Rogoff, a visiting

retailing professor at Philadelphia University, is what's hurting

toy sales.

" There's something we call age compression, " he said. Young people

are leaving their childhoods early, forsaking toys for other

pleasures, such as shopping.

On the fashion side, his college students are wearing pajamas to

class, and so are their younger siblings, when they can get away

with it. That creates an instant market for 's Secret's less-

provocative lines.

One of Rogoff's colleagues, Weathers, an assistant professor

of fashion-industry management, said 's Secret is also

tapping into a 'tween trend known as co-shopping - or shopping with

Mom. " They are advising their daughters about their purchases and

their daughters are advising them, " she said.

" They are not little girls and they aren't teenagers, but they have

a lot of access to sophisticated information about what the media

says is beautiful, what is pretty, what is hot and stylish and

cool, " she said. " They are very visually literate. "

on said he's not surprised that 's Secret denies

marketing to 'tweens.

" There is a definite potential for backlash, " he said.

" If 's Secret is blatantly catering to seventh- and eighth-

graders, that might be considered exploitative, " he said. Also,

's Secret's core customers might prefer their store sexy,

not sweet.

On a recent Tuesday, Lily and Brittany were shopping sweet, not

sexy. The girls eyed a leather-covered stuffed pink dog, but put it

back when they saw the $70 price tag. They looked at cotton lounge

pants, but each owns several pairs.

They settled on sweatpants. Lily bought the yellow ones, Brittany

preferred the green. They cost $68 apiece.

" When I was little, I used to put on makeup to be like my sisters, "

said Brittany. " But you're wasting your time trying to be grown-up

and not enjoying your life. Some girls do try to be older than

themselves and that's why they go to 's Secret. "

Lily nodded in agreement. " We just do it because we like their

sweatpants, " she said.