Our brand equity improved markedly during the quarter. And the perceived worth of the brand was up a touch as well. What we didn’t see was awareness, top of mind awareness. We have lost top of mind awareness with that young consumer. How do we get it back? Well, it all comes down to the product, as you know. And so leading with intimates, being strong in bodysuits, being strong in innerwear, having a really strong and compelling gift assortment, a strong sleepwear assortment, all of those things were positives in the brand. The area that we found toughest is apparel, and I mean sort of outer-based apparel. So we continue to lean into that. We continue to find new ways to go to market. We’re particularly pleased with the Going Places campaign with Natalia Bryant.
That looks like that it’s very positive for us. So the drag has — PINK has reduced, but we still have work to do. We’re taking it steadily and buying cautiously and giving ourselves opportunity to chase. We’re in a better open to buy position right now than we’ve been at any time in the last three or four years. So we’re almost completely open to buy for fall, which we’ve not been in that position for a while. So really giving ourselves the opportunity to test and learn and then buy aggressively into the things that are working. TJ, do you want to take the Store of the Future comment?
Tim Johnson: Absolutely. So Dana, we continue to be very encouraged by Store of the Future results, both in this new class of stores from 2023, as well as the class of stores that was executed in 2022, which are now in their second year. So the stores that have been remodeled the longest continue to see double-digit sales increases, so that’s a very strong performance, very good due for us. The stores that have most recently been renovated are more likely in the mid to high single digits and growing. Again, same narrative as what we experienced in the 2022 stores. They start out at one level and they continue to build, particularly through traffic over time. So we’re very happy with the remodels and renovations. What’s changed or what’s different?
Candidly, we’ve tested and gotten comfortable that we can do, I’d say, a less disruptive remodel, meaning, kind of utilizing or better utilizing some of the walls and fixtures that were in place, so there’s less construction that needs to happen. So it’s a less disruptive process at a lower cost. That’s something that we’ve learned and obviously we like the lower cost element of it at the same productivity. So that’s a good do. I think another big win as it relates to Store of the Future is our opportunity to consolidate stores. And what I mean by that is, bring a freestanding PINK store together with a freestanding VS store to have a combined location. As the PINK business has been challenged, obviously, that challenge is freestanding stores.
And additionally, it just gives our team, Becky and her team, an opportunity to really leverage and be more productive with the teams we have in place. So bringing stores together we’re seeing footage go down 20% or 30% and sales maintain. So sales per square foot are much, much higher. And then the last point that I’ll mention and just underline from Martin’s comments on international. Getting to a Store of the Future format, there’s smaller square footage, easier to navigate, and easier to shop has really opened up the doors in a big way to expanding and increasing the number of new stores we’re adding on an international basis. So it’s a lower cost due for our partners and ever as productive. So a lot of key learnings. I think as I think about new stores in the Store of the Future format.
We’ve had very good success today in off-mall, particularly in outlet centers. So as we work to decrease our mall exposure in certain locations or in certain markets where malls might be consolidating. We’re finding off-mall, particularly outlet center with the new Store of the Future format is a very, very good do for us. So a lot of good learnings and very encouraging results continue in Store of the Future. Thanks.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question now is from Matthew Boss with JP Morgan and your line is open.
Matthew Boss: Great thanks. So Martin, maybe on current initiatives, could you speak to initial customer response to the recent Body by Victoria bra launch? And just larger picture, if any way to elaborate on customer trends that you saw in February and early March? And then just for TJ, what supports your view for back half improvement in the intimates category? Or what have you embedded for the promotional outlook in the first versus second half of the year?
Martin Waters: Great. Thanks, Matt. Thanks for the question. The Body by Victoria launch was our biggest and most successful bra launch in five years. So we talked previously about Love Cloud being a very big initiative for us. The BBV launch was even bigger and even better. Invisible lift technology meets endless comfort, and very much on trend in terms of lighter, thinner memory pads. Plus we had innovation in the online segment of our bra category. We also had a minimizer bra in that assortment which is very innovative and has proved to be very successful and with relatively low level of marketing customers finding it. Within BBV we have expanded sizes and expanded skin tone coverage and we’ve also seen success with the new shimmer panty that supported that launch.
So kind of all across the franchise, we’ve seen strength, and we’re very pleased with the performance of it. To your point about trends, it definitely supports trends for lighter, more comfort bras. So we feel very pleased with that overall. The challenge that we have is that. while that bra launch has been very successful overall, we haven’t been able to lift the overall bra business. So finding a way to unlock great launches and at the same time maintaining the level of sale across the rest of the bra franchises where we’re really, really focused. To your broader question about consumer trends. I think as we look at say the Valentine’s Day period what we would observe there is that. we had more success with casual flirty comfort driven merchandise than we did with sort of traditionally overt, more sophisticated, overtly sexy and provocative merchandise.
