Limited Brands Inc.’s steady move toward international growth is beyond crawling and ready to walk, maybe even run, in 2010.

“There’s a paradigm shift that happened sometime in the last 12 months,” CEO Les Wexner said at an October meeting with securities analysts. “We’re taking it very seriously.”

The shift is a focus on international growth beyond what Martin Waters, executive vice president of Limited Brands International, said is a $1 billion annual business without counting initial foreign forays by the company’s Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works stores.

Within the next three years, as shops begin to open worldwide, the $9 billion company expects to double its international take to $2 billion through an approach that includes improving performance at its Canadian La Senza lingerie chain, growing its other chains in Canada and securing additional partners for overseas operations.

The company’s international sales come from four sources:

• La Senza’s more than 300 stores in Canada and more than 300 licensed stores outside North America, which combine for more than $750 million in annual sales.
• Victoria’s Secret online and catalog sales, at about $100 million a year.
• Export sales at airport duty-free stores, also valued at about $100 million.
• Bath & Body Works’ initial excursions into Canada also account for $100 million.

“We’ve learned, absolutely learned, that our brands have appeal all over the world,” Waters said. “And we’ve learned how to make money.”

Topping the to-do list is righting La Senza, which has struggled since it was acquired for $609 million in 2007. Sales at La Senza stores open at least a year were down 6 percent in the quarter ended October 31. The company hired Joanne Nemeroff as president of the chain this year and has seen encouraging results from new marketing and store layout tests, Martyn Redgrave, Limited’s chief administrative officer, said in a November conference call with stock analysts.

Waters said the company needs to clearly define the difference between Victoria’s Secret and La Senza, especially as it forges forward with plans to put Victoria’s Secret stores in Canada and abroad. While Victoria’s Secret’s marketing message focuses on sexy and sophisticated, the La Senza shopper is seen as younger and more interested in lower prices.

Limited Brands also decided in November to jettison the 42-store La Senza Girl apparel chain aimed at 7- to 14-year-olds. It will replace many of those mall storefronts with La Senza, Bath & Body Works, and Pink shops.

Pink, the company’s underwear and lounge wear brand for college-age women, opened its first four Canadian stores this fall. Victoria’s Secret is scheduled to arrive in 2010. The company has opened 31 Bath & Body Works stores in Canada since last year, and executives have said the chain could expand to between 150 and 200 shops in that country.

Limited Brands estimates the Canadian market could be worth $1 billion a year in revenue for its brands. Stores north of the border have seen sales running at double the volume of U.S. counterparts, Waters said.

Next in the march into Canada is Victoria’s Secret, which is projected to open four stores of at least 10,000 square feet at major malls. The company expects those so-called flagship stores to pull in $10 million to $25 million in annual sales each, and Waters said between 15 and 20 could be built over time.