What do Thomas Pink and The Limited have in common? Their owner.
CP Brands Group, a New York-based company that owns or licenses a wide range of brands including Wrangler, Vince, Snug, Chickpea, RBX and Avalanche Outdoor Supply Co., purchased The Limited last month and has big plans for its return.
CP Brands, headed by chief executive officer Eli Yedid, acquired The Limited from Sycamore Partners, the private equity firm that purchased the former retailer in 2016 for $26.8 million. Terms of this deal were not disclosed but Yedid said he partnered with Harry Adjmi, CEO of One Step Up, on the purchase and they “got a really good deal.”
The Limited, which was founded by Leslie Wexner in 1963, had a legendary run as a groundbreaking and popular women’s sportswear chain. It became a public company in 1989 and continued to grow through the 1980s and ‘90s, becoming a staple in shopping malls around the country.
But as tastes changed, the business began to struggle and in 2017, it closed all its stores and filed bankruptcy. Sycamore acquired the trademark through the bankruptcy auction process and used the name to create a private-label brand at another of its holdings, Belk stores.
“They did a smart thing,” Yedid said of Sycamore. “They had a good brand in The Limited, but it wasn’t making money. They already had the real estate with Belk so they created a brand and anyone that wanted The Limited had to go into those stores.”
In 2024, Sycamore sold Belk to its existing lenders, including funds associated with global investment firm KKR, and Hein Park, an investment management firm focused on distressed debt.
Yedid said the eight-year deal for the use of The Limited name was set to expire at the end of 2026 and it would have cost Belk’s new owners $10 million a year to retain the private brand, so they declined.
That opened the door for CP Brands, which purchased Thomas Pink in partnership with Icon Luxury Group early last year, to step in.
“My team and I are always on the lookout for heritage brands that can be refreshed and rebranded,” Yedid said. “I think there’s a lot of value from a business standpoint in doing that. And we’re ready to recreate and reinvigorate a brand that’s been around since 1963.”
The Limited had been a mainstay in malls in the 1980s and 1990s.
Courtesy
He believes there’s still a lot of nostalgia around the brand with women in their 40s, 50s and 60s and limiting its distribution to 290 Belk stores was “absolutely a missed opportunity,” he said.
“We want to have it in specialty stores, department stores, put the website back up, create social media around it. We’re going to recreate it as its own independent brand,” he said.
Yedid added that he won’t just limit the brand to apparel, but will seek to license the name in a number of other categories as well.
He also plans to bring the brand to Asia and Europe and is already lining up partners there. “It may not have had a big footprint there, but people travel to the U.S. and knew the brand,” he said. “We have a new blank canvas with it to recreate this for a younger customer as an exciting, contemporary sportswear brand.”
Yedid is actively meeting with a number of potential licensing partners in the U.S. to serve as the “anchor” for the women’s collection. “We’ve spoken to several significant companies that have a strong interest,” he said, adding that he will seek to “put it in the hands of people that really get the DNA.”
He envisions the collection as a trend-driven brand at a moderate price point. At Belk, $30 to $70 retail prices were the “sweet spot,” he said, with textured blazers selling for under $50 and wovens and bottoms at $29 and $39. But he sees the aesthetic to be similar to Vince.
“It’s not a premium brand, it’s more trendy,” he said. “It’ll be in the wardrobe for one to two years, not something you pass down to your children.”
Yedid also hopes to eventually expand The Limited’s reach to menswear and childrenswear.
Once product is available, he plans to open a pop-up in New York City to see if reentering retail with The Limited is a viable option. “Retail today is difficult and we’re going to want to have proof of concept before we open a store,” he said.
Instead, The Limited will operate under CP’s “brand management umbrella and we’ll do licensing deals,” he said.
The acquisition allows CP to branch out into a category that was missing within the company. “We had a vacancy in the portfolio,” he said. “I have athleisure, outdoor apparel, men’s luxury, and all kinds of other brands, but we didn’t have women’s sportswear.”
Yedid founded CP Brands in 2000 after working at RBX Active for 13 years. He said his company has “done well” over the years so he has the financial wherewithal to make strategic purchases such as The Limited and Thomas Pink. One Step Up also owns New York & Company, Fashion to Figure and Hard Tail. “The Limited is a remarkable American brand with an extraordinary history. We intend to honor what made it special and build its next chapter,” said Adjmi.
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