First Limited Brands ditched the Express brand now the company has agreed to sell 75 percent of The Limited clothing chain to buyout firm Sun Capital Partners Inc. The company won't get any cash for the deal, unlike their sale of Express where they picked up a cool $602 million. Instead the company expects to lose $42 million on the transaction. Apparently, they are just that desperate to get rid of the brand, which is plummeting in popular appeal, so that they can focus on Victoria's Secret and their bodycare lines such as Bath and Body Works and C.O. Bigelow which brought in most of the company's profit lately. Sun Capital will invest $50 million in the Limited stores and set up a $75 million credit line and the chain will stay open. Profits at The Limited dropped 10% last year and I suspect that if they don't improve they may need to close some stores.

Can The Limited be saved? What would make you go back to the store? Lower prices? A celebrity fronting a massive ad campaign, a collaboration with a hot designer? These things have all worked to some extent for other stores. The Limited does have a presence at malls all across the country, it's just a question of getting shoppers to notice them again.