Big size sales walking tall - clothing for larger sized men

Discount Store News, April 4, 1994 by Susan Reda

Big and tall sizes are on the rise at discount, in response to a growing population of larger sized men and beefed up merchandise selections.

Retailers such as Kmart, Wal-Mart and Bradlees report sales gains of up to 15% in big and tall for the past several seasons. Newcomers, who either recently separated these special sizes on the selling floor or are in a test mode, are excited by their rising weekly sales reports.

"We've had significant increases in this area for some time now and, because of our success, we've begun to take a more aggressive stand," said Gabe Ensenat, Kmart's merchandise manager, menswear. Ensenat said he is revising size specs and may enlarge the department.

Dave Elmer, senior men's buyer at Stuart's, said Stuarts has been aggressively in big and tall for about two years, a position that has resulted in consistent double-digit growth in the range of 10% to 15% over the last few seasons." Elmer said his biggest problem is a lack of space.

The rosy outlook for big and tall business is linked to statistical data. Census figures show that 15% of all men are "big" -- with waist sizes measuring 44 in. to 66 in. -- and "tall" -- over 6 ft. 3 in.

By the year 2000, industry insiders suggest, the number of men wearing big and tall apparel will climb from 16 million to 19.5 million, and retail sales, now at 10% of the men's market or $3 billion, may double.

As trite as it may sound, American's are getting bigger and men's apparel retailers and manufacturers, who once treated special sizes largely as an afterthought, are now learning valuable lessons. They have found that though the business is highly specialized, and generally slower turning than traditional-sized goods, big and tall delivers higher than average margins and greater profit.

Retailers also report that the big and tall customer is more inclined to buy in multiples and is as fashion savvy as his regular-size equal.

Generally, retailers concentrate on the big portion of the special sizes, providing just a modicum of tall items. The business is driven by a handful of key categories and items and emphasis is placed on depth of sizes.

"The business has enormous potential, but the bottom line is that we only have about 10 circle fixtures designated for this category," said Bob Greenwald, general merchandise manager, Jamesway. "The challenge of this business is to keep the assortment narrow, yet meaningful."

Typically, Greenwald confines the mix to casual goods with an emphasis on pants, and key items such as flannel shirts, one-pocket T-shirts and fleece.

At Stuart's, sportswear is given top priority with dress shirts, casual slacks, dress pants and denim jeans. "We try to choose one or two styles in each of those categories and really assort the offering in terms of size and color," says Elmer.

Discounters agree that a solid offering in trousers is intrinsic to building the big and tall business. Because bottoms are more difficult to fit than tops, having product in stock in a range of big sizes in an easy way for stores to gain favor with this growing customer base. Also, trousers represent multiple sales opportunities.

Angelo LaGrega, vp consumer marketing, Wrangler, agreed that focusing on core items is the best approach right now given limited space availability. He said a typical retailer will purchase Wrangler's Timber Creek casuals in three or four colors, one style of jeans in two or three finishes, and stretch jeans with a stretch waist band. LaGrega said the bulk of his business is done in sizes 44 to 48.

Fit is th ebig challenge in the big and tall category.

"In big and tall there are two reasons why a customer walks. One is that you don't have his size; the other is that your product doesn't fit. On the other hand, if you're right on both counts he'll buy two or three," said Ensenat of Kmart. The discounter offers sizes 1X to 4X in tops and waist sizes up to 48 in. in slacks,

Believing that the core of the big and tall business is done in the smaller "big" sizes, most discounters offer sizes 1X to 3X in tops, waist sizes up 50 in. and tall sizes ranging from XLT to 3XLT. However, some manufacturers are critical of variations in sizing and the narrow assortment offered by discounters.

Merchandising is another critical issue. While retailers such as Kmart and Bradlees designate separate selling space for big and tall sizes, others, such as Target, have extended sizes within the regular menswear complex.

Regardless, everyone agrees that there is more product available now than ever before. Major brands like Fruit of the Loom and Hanes have come on board recently, giving discounters greater style, quality and price leverage.

The increased brand presence in this merchandise sector is a win-win situation for retailers and suppliers, allowing retailers to take advantage of the economies of scale of a large manufacturer.