Teens are abandoning Victoria's Secret

Business Insider/Mary Hanbury

Victoria's Secret - and its Pink brand - are struggling.

• Victoria's Secret fell off the ranking of US teens' favorite clothing brands as part of a recent survey of teen spending habits by Piper Jaffray.
• The brand has maintained a leading position in previous surveys, which Piper Jaffray releases twice a year.
• The company has struggled in recent years and has been accused of alienating core customers with racy ads. Same-store sales numbers at its brick-and-mortar stores are down 5% in 2018.

Teen shoppers are being turned off of Victoria's Secret.

The lingerie retailer, which also owns teen-focused brand Pink, fell off of a list of US teens' favorite clothing brands as part of a recent survey of teen spending habits by Piper Jaffray.

Victoria's Secret has maintained a leading position in previous surveys, which Piper Jaffray releases twice a year. However, a drop in popularity among its young female shoppers meant that it didn't make it into the top 10 ranking this time.

Victoria's Secret also appeared on the list of 10 retailers that teens are no longer shopping from for the second time.

Victoria's Secret has struggled in recent years and has been accused of alienating core customers with racy ads. Same-store sales numbers at its brick-and-mortar stores are down 5% so far in 2018 and flat overall.

Pink, the teen-focused line that used to be one of the retailer's sweet spots, has also come under pressure. CEO Denise Landman, who is set to the retire at the end of the year, said same-store sales for this brand alone were down in the mid-single digits in its most recent quarter.

Meanwhile, more body-positive brands such as American Eagle's Aerie have been gaining market share.

In May, American Eagle reported a record 38% increase in same-store sales at Aerie for the first quarter of 2018. It also announced its plans to grow Aerie into a $1 billion business and open between 35 and 40 stores across the US this year.

In the Piper Jaffray survey, American Eagle was voted the second-most popular clothing brand among teens.

Some analysts are now skeptical as to whether Victoria's Secret or Pink can make a comeback.

"While management is citing fashion misses, we think there are structural, brand-related issues at hand here," Jefferies analyst Randy Konik wrote in a note to investors in September.

"With Pink, we view the brand as a fad and no longer wanted so we expect sales declines to accelerate through the holiday period and beyond," Konik wrote in another note in October.