For anyone who grew up spending weekends at the mall, Bath & Body Works was almost impossible to miss.
In fact, when I was a teenager hanging out with friends at my local mall, you could often smell a Bath & Body Works store long before you actually saw it.
That bear-sensory overload experience helped turn Bath & Body Works into one of the most recognizable specialty retailers in America. For years, the company built a loyal customer base around affordable indulgences, gift-able products, and a steady stream of new scents that kept shoppers coming back.
But while the brand remains popular, Bath & Body Works has faced some challenges recently.
The retailer’s stock has struggled in 2026 as investors weigh slowing sales growth, category pressures, and concerns about how the company will reignite momentum.
In its first quarter, Bath & Body Works reported net sales of $1.4 billion, down 3% from the prior year. The company also pointed to ongoing consumer uncertainty and a challenging retail environment.
Some product categories have proven particularly difficult. Body care, for example, underperformed in Q1, declining in the mid-teens, as reported by Retail Dive.
Despite those challenges, management believes the company is heading in the right direction, and that there’s lots for customers to get excited about.
Bath & Body Works says its transformation is on track
The encouraging news for Bath & Body Works customers and investors alike is that company leadership believes its long-term strategy remains intact.
“We are in the early stages of transforming Bath & Body Works from a specialty retailer to a category-leading global brand,” said CEO Daniel Heaf following the company’s first-quarter results.
That statement is important because it highlights that management isn’t simply focused on short-term sales fluctuations.
Instead, Bath & Body Works is pursuing a multi-year transformation designed to expand the brand’s relevance, improve product offerings, and strengthen its position in the beauty, personal care, and wellness markets.
The company has been investing in product innovation and is working to deepen customer engagement. While those initiatives may take time to produce measurable results, executives remain confident that they can unlock future growth.
For shoppers, that could mean more innovative products, broader product categories, and an evolving brand experience that goes beyond the candles and seasonal fragrances that made the retailer famous.
What Bath & Body Works needs to do next
Bath & Body Works is by no means a weak brand. And its presence as a mall staple often helps draw customers in the door to load up on the scents they know and love and hunt for new ones.
As Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, told Retail Dive, “The problem for BBW isn’t that it’s a terrible company or brand. On the contrary: it is a victim of its own success. BBW has such a high market share in some of its categories that it not only struggles to expand but also suffers from rival brands nibbling away at sales.”
That’s a challenge many mature retail brands face. When a company dominates a category, finding new avenues for growth can become increasingly difficult.
Saunders believes innovation will be critical, particularly in body care and skincare.
“The current indulgent and treat focus of the brand also needs to be married with a more scientific approach to solving skincare and wellness needs — which continues to be a huge area of growth,” he said.
That insight could represent one of the biggest opportunities for Bath & Body Works.
Consumers are increasingly interested in products that not only smell good, but also offer wellness, skincare, and functional benefits. Successfully expanding into those areas could help the Bath & Body Works capture new customers while encouraging existing shoppers to spend more.
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Of course, the company’s transformation won’t happen overnight. Management has been clear that this is a multi-year effort.
But if the company can successfully blend its fragrance expertise with greater innovation in skincare, wellness, and body care, customers could find a whole set of new reasons to walk in the door other than being lured by the overwhelming smell down the hall at the mall.