Large size opportunities - special sizes clothing - Women - Special Supplement: AM Apparel Marketing

Discount Store News, July 22, 1991

Large Size Opportunity

They've relinquished the career business to department stores and conceded the young, trendy, plus size customer to specialists like Lane Bryant.

Yet mass merchants are still bullishly approaching plus size women's wear. Discount store retailers are staking their claim in the casual portion of the large size business and many believe they've struck a gold mine.

Merchants are focusing their attention on widening their assortments of sportswear, sharpening their fashion edge and promoting the business to shoppers. As a result, fourth quarter sales are expected to exceed last year's figures by anywhere from six percent to ten percent.

"Our goal is to present a more updated assortment of good fitting, casual clothes," says Cecilia Clancy, divisional merchandise manager at Braintree, Mass.-based Bradlees. Clancy, who has planned a single-digit Fall increase, adds, "We realize we can't be everything to everyone, so we're hoping this casual slant will satisfy the majority of large size shoppers."

So is Steve Drexler, divisional merchandise manager at Franklin, Mass.-based Stuart's, who is also beefing up the casual portion of the business.

"The more attention we pay to this business, the better it gets," says Drexler, who describes large sizes as extremely profitable. "It's safe to expect margins to be two to three percent above what they are in missy."

Most retailers feel their success is simply the upshot of paying attention to a consumer who is largely ignored. The business is often treated as a stepchild at other retail tiers. At discount stores, however, the percentage of large size apparel to the total sportswear business is estimated to be twice what it is in a department store setting.

Kathy Foley, divisional merchandise manager at Troy, Mich.-based Kmart, attributes the growth of the store's large size business to the aging of America. "As Americans grow older, there is a tendency to put on a few pounds. As a result, this business has been expanding tremendously over the last five years, and there's still room for growth."

At Henderson, N.C.-based Rose Stores, a recent investigation turned up similar findings. "We started paying closer attention to sizes and we learned that size 14 was actually the most sought after size in bottoms--not 10 or 12 as we originally thought," comments Wendy Heath, divisional merchandise manager, who says that that study has effected change in both the missy and the large size businesses.

In large sizes, Heath re-evaluated her buy and beefed up the portion of goods on the lower end of the plus size spectrum, namely sizes 18, 20 and 22.

A look at merchants' plans for the third and fourth quarter indicates the importance of knits to the total business. Retailers report that close to half of the top and bottom classifications will be in knit fabrications.

"Knit dressing is a fashion trend that large size women can really take advantage of because it's easy to fit and comfortable," says Foley at Kmart. Merchants expect stirrup and capri length knit pants to fuel the bottoms business. In tops, mock turtlenecks and long novelty sweaters are getting top billing.

Related separates is another business which retailers intend to spotlight. Never having had the opportunity to build as broad a wardrobe as her missy counterpart, discounters are finding that if they display related items adjacently on the selling floor, the plus size shopper is very likely to buy an outfit.

Roger Gordon, who heads up the large size division at Gitano, believes that the success of related separates is tied to the time factor. "The large size customer, like the missy shopper, doesn't have time to figure out what goes with what," says Gordon.

"We call related separates a |no brainer.' She just buys a top and a bottom that match and she's out."

Gordon is partial to the related separates business because it forces retailers to merchandise coordinating items from one resource together, thus increasing the possibility of multi-unit sales to consumers. Despite the success of Gitano shops in misses sportswear, the concept has not been rolled out in large sizes.

While accentuating related separates certainly helps spur multiple purchases, mass merchants haven't forgotten about the importance of the fashion items approach to merchandising. Detecting somewhat of a resurgence in basic silhouettes, a majority of retailers--including some of the biggest--intend to emphasize color and pattern while sticking to traditional models.

Discounters are counting on brands to supply much of the fashion punch. Executives at Gitano, the resource which dominates the plus size business at many discount stores, will respond with a wide variety of prints in knits, and a broad color palette in volume items. Other brands which retailers are looking to for updated merchandise include Jordache, Chic and Hanes.

Nevertheless, private label merchandise will continue to account for almost half of the area's volume.

"We have a very good track record with our import program," says John Lesser, vice president of ready-to-wear at Portland, Ore.-based Fred Meyer, who admits to being surprised by how quickly large size apparel turns. "This business is more predictable than missy and junior. That enables us to make big commitments upfront." One classification Lesser had particularly good results with this year was sweaters. For fall he's counting on boucles to stimulate sales in his private label assortment.