The Limited

Limited Stores

Former type	Private
Industry	Clothing
Fate	Filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection
Founded	1963
Defunct	January 9, 2017 (as retail stores), January 17, 2017 (online store temporarily shut down)
Headquarters	Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Number of locations	0
Key people	Diane Ellis, CEO
Products	Shirts/tops, pants, denim, jackets, sweaters, skirts, dresses, and accessories
Parent	Sun Capital Partners
Website	www.thelimited.com

The Limited is an American clothing company. It is owned by the private equity firm Sun Capital Partners.

In 1912, Bella Cabakoff emigrated with her parents from Russia to Columbus, Ohio, to escape persecution. At 21, she became the youngest buyer for the Lazarus department store chain. However, after spending over 20 years with Lazarus, in 1951 she and her husband Harry Wexner opened a women's clothing store named Leslie's (after their son) on State Street. This store became the training ground for Leslie Wexner. In 1963, he borrowed $5,000 from his aunt and $5,000 from the bank and opened a store at the Kingsdale Shopping Center in Upper Arlington. This store was named "The Limited" because the store focused on clothing for younger women, unlike his parents' general merchandise store. Later in 1964, Bella and Harry closed their store to join their son in his venture.

The original board consisted of only the three family members and longtime friend of Harry and Bella, Jim Waldron (who served as senior vice president): Bella Wexner (who served as secretary until her death in 2001), Harry as chairman (who served until his death in 1975), and Leslie, who succeeded his father as the chairman and later became CEO. He and his family continue to control 17% of LTD. In 1969, Wexner took Limited Brands public, listed as LTD on the NYSE. In 1977, The Limited moved into its main headquarters on Morse Road in Columbus, Ohio. In 2009, The Limited's headquarters moved to New Albany, Ohio, where it still operates today.

The 1980s started a string of acquisitions: In 1982, the Victoria's Secret brand, store, and catalogue were purchased from Roy Raymond for $1 million. Also in 1982, 207 Lane Bryant stores were purchased. In 1985, a single Henri Bendel store was purchased for $10 million and 798 Lerner stores for $297 million. Finally, in 1988, 25 Abercrombie & Fitch stores were purchased for $46 million. The Limited then phased out its ownership of the A&F brand in 1996, when it was spun off into a publicly traded company. In 1980, Limited founded Limited Express, now known as Express.