Petite fashions - Petite Pleasures

Nation's Business, March, 1990 by Sharon Nelton

Petite Fashions

If you were as tiny as Dolly Parton, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, or Pia Zadora, where would you shop for clothes? One place they've all shopped is Petite Pleasures, a boutique on Manhattan's Upper East Side billed as "for the petite woman who loves high fashion."

An estimated 47 million American women are "petites"--5-foot-4 or under and weighing 125 pounds or less. Yet only in recent years have retailers begun to target the petite woman with clothing smart enough for business and social events.

Helping to lead that change are Robert and Elizabeth Volin, a husband-and-wife team. They started Petite Pleasures 10 years ago after they saw an article indicating that the few designers then in petites were moving away from designing for very young women--the "junior petite" set--and creating clothes for more sophisticated women.

It was good news for Beth, who at 5-foot-1 and 93 pounds had difficulty finding quality clothes that would fit properly, even after extensive alterations.

The Volins decided to combine their backgrounds--he has an MBA in finance, and she has a bachelor's degree in fashion merchandising--and launch a clothing store for women like Beth. Using $3,000 in personal savings--"everything we had in the world at the time," says Robert--they opened a 280-square-foot store in Glen Cove, Long Island, in a large house they shared with 10 other boutiques. Robert stocked it with 100 dresses; the most expensive retailed for $39. The location was so poor that the Volins' accountant predicted they would be out of business in six months. But the first year, sales were $40,000, and the second year, they grew to $100,000. "We thought we could do no wrong," says Robert.

And maybe they couldn't. They moved to their present location on Madison Avenue at 87th St. in 1982--still a tiny 480 square feet--and have made gains nearly every year, finishing 1989 at almost $420,000 in sales.

What's made them grow, they say, is their dedication to buying better and better merchandise, concentrating on clothes that can't be bought in major department stores, and developing a more sophisticated clientele. Their average dress eight years ago retailed for $80 to $100; now the average is $350 to $400. Eight years ago, their typical client had an income of about $20,000 and was between 21 and 35 years old. Now she's at least 30 and makes $50,000 to $60,000.

Beth, 34, is vice president and oversees merchandising, customer relations, and store operations. Robert, 36, as president, looks after finances and does the buying. They want to continue honing the factors that have made them successful. The right product mix is important, they say, but customer service and honesty are even more crucial. If a garment doesn't fit a customer nearly perfectly, for example, they won't sell it to her.

PHOTO : Fashion can be found in small sizes at Elizabeth and Robert Volin's store.