Leslie Wexner Quotes

103 Leslie Wexner Quotes

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I think they saw me as kind of a mad scientist until I was about fifty. My friends just thought I was nuts.
Leslie Wexner

[On focusing on the bestselling women’s sportswear segment instead of low-turn, low-profit dresses and outerwear] I thought it would improve business if we just sold sportswear, because it was the only profitable thing. My idea was to be a specialist, not a generalist. The world values specialists, not generalists. I wanted to have a focused, well edited, concise point of view – to really stand for something and own it.
Leslie Wexner

[On his first business goal after opening the first ‘The Limited’ store in 1963 after borrowing $5,000 from his aunt.] The primary goal was not to go broke, because I did want to pay back Aunt Ida. I wanted to have a new car every three years. And someday make $15,000 a year.
Leslie Wexner

Women want things they haven’t seen. And whatever it is, women see it as sexy.
Leslie Wexner

When women are wearing loose Levis and loose flannel shirts, for whatever reason, it’s sexy. And if they’re wearing tight jeans and tight T-shirts, it’s because it’s sexy. Apparel, for men and women, has a lot to do with sex appeal. The world is a sexy place. It’s primal.
Leslie Wexner

It was in that period of the 1960s and 1970s that the central business district began to come apart. People moved to the suburbs. Shopping centers were created. I saw the potential of something very large.
Leslie Wexner

I think temperamentally I’ve always lived in my own world, and that world is very much in the future. I don’t get much pleasure out of today.
Leslie Wexner

[In 1994] I believe in entrepreneurship, but we went too far in decentralizing the businesses. I essentially said to the presidents of the various divisions, ‘You’ll figure things out.’ We didn’t give them enough support.
Leslie Wexner

In a world with so many ideas, it is necessary to filter things.
Leslie Wexner

Clearly, brands win and we have some of the most compelling brands in retailing. Well planned. Well bought. Well coordinated. Well displayed. Well marketed. Well done.
Leslie Wexner



[On building stores initially and then in the second stage replicating, creating and making acquisitions.] We were kind of a venture-capital company in hindsight.
Leslie Wexner

Entrepreneurial style wasn’t working. The business had outgrown that in terms of complexity. Working harder at the specialty store format wasn’t the way. Leading brands is different from being an entrepreneur… It was about looking at how the business was organized…
Leslie Wexner

Are we a large group of specialty stores or are we… a family of brands? The best advice I got when I was starting the business [was from] my marketing professor at Ohio State… He said that change is a habit and you have to get in the habit of it… And if you don’t, you will find yourself losing the ability… just like physical skills. Keep your mental muscle loose. You have to keep stretching.
Leslie Wexner

[In 1993 at marrying at the age of 55 to 31 year old Abigail S Koppel a corporate attorney.] Marriage? I was kind of neutral about it. I figured it you meet someone and you fall in love, you get married. If you don’t, you don’t.
Leslie Wexner

[In 1993] Entrepreneurs, guys that start businesses, grow with them. It’s more painful than it would appear.
Leslie Wexner

I didn’t want to go into the retail business. I hated it.
Leslie Wexner

I dropped out of law school; I hated it because it wasn’t creative enough.
Leslie Wexner

I opened the second store in August 1964. When my dad found out that I was going to open a second store, he quit talking to me for almost a year. He thought I was crazy. I respected my dad’s judgment, but he was always cautious. He came to this country from Russia when he was a teenager.
Leslie Wexner

[On his father] When I had two stores, he said, ‘You’re winning, take it to the bank.’ At four stores, he said, ‘You’re winning, take it to the bank.’ When we had six stores, I decided I wanted to become a public company, and he thought I was totally insane. Everybody did. They said, ‘Your friends and acquaintances will buy stock, and then everybody will wallpaper their johns with it.’ In 1969 we went public… Over the 20 year period that Jack Welch ran GE, the Limited was one of the few companies to increase its share price faster than GE.
Leslie Wexner

Victoria's Secret was started by a fellow named Roy Raymond, who created the business as an MBA project while at Stanford. I was curious to learn more, but he was very guarded. When I met him, it was as if he met the devil. We were this big company with dozens and dozens of stores. He had three stores. Nothing happened from the meeting, but six months later he called me and said he was going to be put into bankruptcy that week. He'd rather sell the company to me than go bankrupt. I got on a plane to San Francisco that day, and within 24 hours we negotiated the purchase.
Leslie Wexner



[On being asked why he keeps on working when he had made a lot of money as a young man.] I think that if you stop to smell the roses, you’ll get hit by a truck.
Leslie Wexner

Sometimes I wish I lived more in the day, but I’m happier thinking about tomorrow or the day after. The way I see it, there’s always a new or next thing.
Leslie Wexner

When you’ve had a long string of victories, it’s harder to foresee your own vulnerabilities.
Leslie Wexner


Bonus

It was completely out of character for Les. He is not a good dirty fighter.
Alfred Taubman (His Mentor)

[In 1985] He positioned himself so he was able to produce original merchandise. He’d produce a sweater that sold for $100 elsewhere for $30 or $40, and it had a very similar look. He is above Lerner and Petrie in look, and below the quality stores. He created his own niche.
Alfred Taubman (His Mentor)



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