By Kelly L. Cline
HQ 6 | WINTER 1991
One Limited Parkway, Columbus, Ohio. The address is synonymous with perhaps the most influential women’s apparel retailer of the past two decades. The ultramodern structure which houses the offices of The Limited, Inc., parent company of such well-known specialty divisions as The Limited, Limited Express, Victoria’s Secret, Lane Bryant and Lerner’s. It is an all-encompassing company and building. Surrounding the office complex, a pond filled with black swans adds aesthetic value to an otherwise industrial mirage.
Verna Gibson, president of The Limited stores – one of the largest and undeniably the most popular women’s retail chains in the country – sits comfortably behind a large glass desk, intent upon her days’ work. It is a long way from her days as a local sales rep for The Smart Shop in Huntington. She is fashionably dressed in a tailored jacket and plaid walking shorts, a la The Limited. As the swans float effortlessly through the waters of the pond outside, Gibson seems to glide through her work inside. One should not be duped, however, by seeing Gibson behind her desk, as she likes to think of herself as a hands-on leader, keeping a finger on the ever fluctuating pulse of the fashion industry. It is from this vantage point that Gibson began her ascent to the presidency of a company which now has a near monopoly on every market in the women’s retail industry. From lingerie to European to sportswear to career wear to plus-sized clothing, The Limited and its divisions have the market cornered.
How has the company reached such a pinnacle? Gibson and the upper echelons at The Limited credit their commitment to providing the best customer service in the industry and their ability to predict, season after season, what the customer wants to buy.
A framed bronzed shaker-knit sweater adorns one of the walls in Gibson’s offices, and, perhaps serves as a constant reminder of The Limited’s unlimited and trend-setting abilities. It was Gibson’s discovery of the shaker knit sweater which catapulted The Limited, the flagship division of the company, to the heights which it enjoys today. On an overseas trip to Europe, the businesswoman noticed all the local women sporting comfortable, somewhat oversized knit V-neck sweaters. Gibson immediately seized the opportunity and brought the idea back to the States and her Limited stores, a market in which she felt the sweater would thrive. And it did! Everywhere one looked, shaker knit sweaters abounded, the hottest fashion trend in years. You weren’t considered “in” unless you owned one of these little gems. Since then, fashion conscious females all over America have flocked to The Limited in droves. They are attracted by the constantly changing, innovative floorsets and display techniques, for which The Limited is well-known. The moderate pricing and excellent customer service also attract consumers to The Limited.
Verna Gibson was drawn to The Limited store design herself, a short time before being hired by the company.
Her beginnings were humble. A native of Elkview, W.Va., Gibson was raised by a strong-minded mother who instilled in her daughter the idea that no goal is unreachable, nothing impossible. Little did her mother know that Verna would become living proof of that philosophy.
After moving to Point Pleasant, W.Va., where she earned her high school degree, Gibson moved to Huntington, W.Va., to attend Marshall University and study science. It was a part-time job as a sales clerk at The Smart Shop that first sparked Gibson’s interest in retail.
“They were excellent merchants,” Gibson said of her former employers. “I had a terrific base training and it influenced my whole retail career.”
Gibson said that the owner of The Smart Shop, Simon Mazo, served as one of the most important people in her life. “I think for his time, Mr. Mazo was very much on the forefront, very quick and a good businessman,” she said. “The combination of creative skills and great business skills is hard to find.”
Between juggling a part-time job, attending college and becoming actively involved in the local chapter of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority, Verna Kaye (as her friends called her) was very busy and popular. Some of Gibson’s fondest memories of Huntington center around Marshall University.
“I had a great time at M.U.,” she recalled. “My best friend that I met in college is still my best friend. My husband of 28years I met at M.U. – those are two of the most positive things in my life.”
Verna married Jim Gibson, her college sweetheart, and the two moved to Columbus, Ohio, shortly after Jim was transferred by his employer, a transplant that was beneficial to Verna’s career as well.
While browsing through the Eastland Mall in Columbus, Gibson spotted a Limited store, then one of only a handful in the country. The fledgling business was founded by a man who is now perhaps Columbus’s most prominent citizen, Les Wexner. Gibson had heard of Wexner through her association with the Mazos in Huntington.
“I got tired of hearing about this guy and his great store,” she said. “He was a frat brother of Steve Jacobson who was running The Princess Shop in Huntington.”
Gibson liked what she saw. So much, in fact, that she walked straight into a phone booth and called Wexner. Immediately, she knew she wanted to be a part of the company and mustered up the nerve to ask Wexner for a job over the phone.
“Somehow I knew instinctively to meet him,” she said.
“Mr. Mazo gave me some good advice. He said, ‘If you want to go somewhere, find a boss you can learn from.’ That’s what I saw in Les Wexner.”
She’s been with Wexner ever since. And, the company has rocketed to unparalleled success.
Gibson, despite her many accolades, has never forgotten where she came from and she speaks highly of the city that served as the starting point for her career.
“Huntington is a beautiful city – the parks, the architecture – it has a warm culture. I think there is a lot more that can be done with the city. I wish we could attract more industry and get more things going here because it’s such a nice area.”
Gibson still has strong ties to both Huntington and Marshall University through substantial donations to the Yeager Scholars Program.
“I think it’s very important to give back some of what has been given to you,” she said.
A small woman, Gibson exhibits an inner strength most evident when she discusses the probable reasons for The Limited’s success.
“We really practice the fundamentals in our business – spending a lot of time in stores with customers,” she said. “And, we’re not afraid to make bold moves into the future. No business grows like this one without visionary leadership and motivational skills to get people to share in our dreams.”
