12 Facts About Roy Raymond

1.

Roy Larson Raymond was an American businessman who founded the Victoria's Secret lingerie retail store in California in 1977.

2.

Roy Raymond started an early business at age 13 in Fairfield that produced wedding invitations.

3.

Roy Raymond worked in marketing for several companies early in his career, including Guild Wineries, Richardson-Merrell, and the Vicks company.

4.

Roy Raymond opened the first Victoria's Secret store at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California.

5.

Roy Raymond was inspired to start Victoria's Secret after feeling embarrassed purchasing lingerie for his wife in a department store.

6.

Roy and Gaye Raymond worked together to design and launch the first store with a Victorian-inspired style.

7.

Roy Raymond earned $500,000 in its first year and Raymond started a mail order catalog and opened three stores in San Francisco.

8.

In 1982, after five years of operation, Roy 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.

9.

In 1984, Roy Raymond personally invested $850,000 in the new venture.

10.

Roy Raymond continued to generate business ideas and to work towards the launch of companies including a children's book store, a mail-order home-repair hardware business, and a company that produced wigs for those who had lost their hair due to cancer treatments.

11.

Roy Raymond was last seen walking toward the bridge, and hours afterward, his body was found by the Coast Guard near the Marin County shoreline.

12.

Gaye Roy Raymond stated that she believed he had suffered from depression following a series of business failures.