I never really understood the hype around VS but it's not hard to see why this company dominates the lingerie market. Nearly a third of the floor space is devoted to perfume and beauty products, which boast considerably higher profit margins than the apparel, and every marketing opportunity is exploited in full force - i.e. every perfume is branded to death with it's own series of body products.
Generally, I'm greeted immediately whenever I visit this store, but there is an odd disconnect between customer service levels on the floor and the cashiers, who seem fond of speaking on the phone whilst ringing through purchases. There is plenty of time for you to stand in line and make impulse buys ($5-$20 items stocked by the cash registers).
The drawback to shopping here is the creepy men sitting around and "waiting" for their girlfriend/wife/ etc. I prefer not to be scrutinized while shopping for under-things, but perhaps I'm in a minority?
I'm not sure if the quality of the merchandise lives up to the hype, but it's not a bad idea to wait for a sale here; these seem to happen fairly regularly.
Check out the bathrooms at the back of the store - I don't think many people know about these yet so they are very clean and generally empty.