Sales of women's plus sizes outpace total apparel biz

Discount Store News, Nov 6, 1995

NATIONWIDE DSN REPORT -- Shortly after taking the helm at Ames Department Stores in June 1994, president and ceo Joe Ettore cited plus sizes as a key area for expansion. Little more than 12 months later, Ettore told DSN that the year-to-year double-digit growth in Ames' plus-size department had exceeded expectations.

By accentuating plus-size presentations, more mass merchants are tapping into a segment that's experiencing better growth than apparel in general. Indeed, over the past six years, the growth in plus-size apparel has been roughly double that for women's apparel as a whole.

According to consumer purchase panel research by the NPD Group, a research organization based in Port Washington, N.Y, the unit volume of women's plus-size apparel grew 42% from the year ending June 1990 through the year ending June 1995. In the same period, total women's apparel unit volume grew by only 23%.

Discounters have taken the lead in this surge. The NPD research showed that women's plus-size volume grew by only 13% in department stores over the six-year period, but soared by 55% in discount and variety stores.

The introduction--and rapid adoption--this year of the Richard Simmons-licensed line of plus-size wear is an indication that retailers are giving plus sizes treatment worthy of a leading-volume department. Ames, Venture and Wal-Mart were among the first to test the line. At Ames, women's apparel dmm Patti Simigran projected the collection will reach $1 million this Holiday.

K-mart is now testing the Richard Simmons collection in knit tops and "big daddy" shirts, said Maxine Boorstein, vp, marketing and merchandising of Cayset Fashions Ltd.'s Richard Simmons division. Most chains are running a selection of knit tops and proportion-adjustable pants, big daddy shirts with embroidery or printing, and sweaters.

The line has been built around subdued-color related separates and novelty designs. Boorstein said that such Simmons emblems as Dalmatians, kittens and angels will remain, but the novelty side of the collection will expand into more "hard-driving fashion basics."

For spring `96, this will include feminine interpretations of menswear influences like checks and houndstooth patterns, as well as primary bright colors and some black-and-white looks.

While casualwear is the heart of the line today, Boorstein said that activewear, bodywear, denim, sleepwear and dresses are all likely points of expansion. She also believes that there is a future for this license in careerwear.

The extension of this plus-size line into more aspects of apparel is an indication of the industry trend. Wal-Mart, for instance, brought out very credible plus-size versions of its Kathie Lee careerwear collection at the very beginning of the line's launch.

With suppliers providing more fashionable assortments in plus sizes, retailers have more leeway in creating differentiation in their departments. The distinct differences between presentations at Target and Kmart, as seen last month in competing St, Louis stores, are instructive.

At Kmart, the Women's Sizes department is built around a feature wall that highlights fleece, denim and career/casual collections.

On the feature wall, Fruit of the Loom is shown in seven colors, priced at $8.99 each. On the next 8 ft. of the feature wall, Chic Comfort Fit jeans and brushed denim slacks are set up in a folded presentation.

Adjoining this display are career/casual-related separates in acetate/rayon crinkle texture. Under the Marisa label, these outfits are offered in a choice of rust or taupe. On the fourth section of the wall, updated traditional separates from Kmart's Jaclyn Smith Woman collection are shown.

In contrast to Kmart, Target merchandises its plus-size fleece along with regular sizes in its private label Pro Spirit activewear shop. This makes a more powerful activewear presentation and may broadcast to the plus-size shopper that her desire to look good in sports-inspired apparel is completely mainstream.

Should this customer wish to feel catered to, however, she can shop her own department, called simply "Plus Sizes" at Target. The overall impression is more upscale than at Kmart, partly due to greater space between fixtures and the more restrained, focused merchandising on the feature walls. Target's fashion-suggestion lifestyle posters help to deliver a more uplifting ambiance--obviously not the goal of Kmart's fixture topper signage, which blandly calls out the item price reductions as currently advertised.

The feature wall at Target, instead of ranging from fleece to denim to career/casual, works on the power presentation principle. The walls are used as feature item displays, especially to show private label Honors stirrup pants at $12.99 and ribbed tops at $14.99.

Plus-size denim jeans at Target are relegated to folded table presentations, one table each for Riders at $21.99, Chic at $21.99 and Britt-baggy by Brittania at $19.99.

At Kmart, most of the department is comprised of separate rounders for tops and bottoms. At Target, related separates are featured on a number of fixtures.