Roy Larson Raymond (April 15, 1947 – August 26, 1993) was an American businessman who founded the

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...

lingerie retail store in California in 1977.

Early life and education

Roy Raymond was born April 15, 1947, in Connecticut. He started an early business at age 13 in Fairfield that produced wedding invitations. He attended

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

, graduating in 1969. Raymond earned his master's degree in Business Administration from the

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective ...

in 1971.

Career

Early career

Raymond worked in marketing for several companies early in his career, including Guild Wineries, Richardson-Merrell, and the Vicks company. His greater aspiration was to start his own business.

Victoria's Secret

On June 12, 1977, Victoria's Secret was founded by Roy and Gaye Raymond in Delaware. Raymond opened the first Victoria's Secret store at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California. Raymond was inspired to start Victoria's Secret after feeling embarrassed purchasing lingerie for his wife in a department store. To open the store, he borrowed $40,000 from a bank and $40,000 from his family. Roy and Gaye Raymond worked together to design and launch the first store with a Victorian-inspired style. A reference to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, the name Victoria's Secret was meant to evoke the sophistication and propriety associated with

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

boudoirs while alluding to the "secret" underneath the clothes. On selecting the name Victoria for the business, Raymond stated that there were "a couple hundred names we came up with, but only that one seemed to have all the elements for the character we were trying to portray." The company earned $500,000 in its first year and Raymond started a

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

catalog and opened three stores in San Francisco. Leslie Wexner discovered Raymond's store in the early 1980s, described it as unique, and declared that he had never encountered anything like it in his travels. Although Wexner was interested in purchasing Victoria's Secret, Raymond was initially wary of Wexner, who later stated "When I met him, it was as if he met the devil." Six months later the business was headed towards bankruptcy, and Raymond contacted Wexner to discuss a potential sale. In 1982, after five years of operation, Raymond sold the Victoria's Secret company for $1 million to Wexner, with its five stores and 42-page catalogue, then reported to be grossing $6 million per year. For approximately a year after the sale to Wexner, Raymond stayed on as president of Victoria's Secret while working towards the start of his next company, an upscale store for children called My Child's Destiny. In 1984, Raymond personally invested $850,000 in the new venture. The business catered to professional couples and sold computer games, imported dolls and expensive toys in a single store in San Francisco and through mail order catalogues. Business at the store suffered due to a poor location with limited walk in traffic and due to a limited marketing strategy which focused on the wealthy, contributing to an image of being

elitist Elitism is the notion that individuals who form an elite — a select group with desirable qualities such as intellect, wealth, power, physical attractiveness, notability, special skills, experience, lineage — are more likely to be construct ...

. In 1986, the company was forced to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy. As Raymond had not incorporated the company, he was ultimately liable for the financial burden. He and his wife lost their homes (in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe) as well as their vehicles. He continued to generate business ideas and to work towards the launch of companies including a children's book store (Quinby's), a mail-order home-repair hardware business, and a company that produced wigs for those who had lost their hair due to cancer treatments. Raymond secured funding to launch Quinby's from

Diane Disney Miller Diane Marie Disney-Miller (December 18, 1933 – November 19, 2013) was the daughter and only biological child of Walt Disney and his wife Lillian Bounds Disney. Diane co-founded the Walt Disney Family Museum alongside her family. She was presi ...

and

Ron W. Miller Ronald William Miller (April 17, 1933 – February 9, 2019) was an American businessman and professional American football player. He was president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company from 1980 to 1984 and was president of the board of directors ...

, but within two years he was bought out due to financial disputes.

Personal life

Raymond and his wife, Gaye, had two children together, a son and a daughter; they divorced in 1990. After his divorce, Raymond was reportedly in a relationship with Peggy Knight of

Ross, California Ross is a small List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, just north of San Francisco. Ross is located west-southwest of San Rafael, California, San Rafael, at ...

Death

On August 26, 1993, Raymond ended his life by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. He was last seen walking toward the bridge, and hours afterward, his body was found by the Coast Guard near the

Marin County Marin County ( ) is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is ac ...

shoreline. Investigators concluded that he had jumped off the bridge. Gaye Raymond stated that she believed he had suffered from depression following a series of business failures.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raymond, Roy 1947 births 1993 deaths Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area Tufts University alumni Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Suicides by jumping in California Victoria's Secret executives Golden Gate Bridge 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Connecticut American retail company founders 1993 suicides