Discounter Eyes Burgeoning Lingerie Business : Retail: Clothestime unveils plans to open chain to compete in $8-billion market.

Operating on the theory that less is more, Clothestime Inc. is opening a chain of stores to compete against Lingerie For Less, Victoria’s Secret and Frederick’s of Hollywood in the $8-billion market for lingerie.

Clothestime, which operates 557 women’s apparel stores in 22 states and Puerto Rico, plans to open 10 Lingerie Time stores during 1994, Clothestime Chairman John Ortega said Tuesday. Clothestime views the Lingerie Time chain as “a strategic part of our long-term store growth,” Ortega said.

The first stores will open in Dana Point, Huntington Beach, Anaheim Hills and Placentia. A store also is planned for Pearl City on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Clothestime will locate lingerie stores near its existing stores in strip centers.

While Clothestime’s stores offer private-label merchandise, Lingerie Time will sell name-brand merchandise--including Christian Dior, Lily of France, Maidenform and Bali--at deep discounts, Ortega said.

In Orange County, that strategy pits newcomer Lingerie Time against Marina del Rey-based Lingerie For Less, which has 23 stores, including 11 Orange County locations. Lingerie For Less opened its first store in Huntington Beach in 1985.

“The industry volume is now at about $8.2 billion and we see it growing to $10 billion within a couple of years,” said Karen Bromley, a spokeswoman for the Intimate Apparel Council, a New York-based trade group.

“The fastest-growing sector in lingerie sales are the chain and discount stores,” Bromley said. “Target, Mervyn’s, Kmart and the like all are doing a big business in lingerie and intimate apparel. . . . There’s tremendous competition in chain stores.”

Retailers and manufacturers are responding to consumer demands for better values by creating private labels that are less costly than leading name brands.

“Vanity Fair is one manufacturer that created Vassarette, a new brand that won’t cannibalize its own line,” Bromley said. “And Victoria’s Secret, one of the largest brands in the country, is a very price-driven (private label) brand.”

Clothestime’s bid to join the lingerie war “makes sense because it’s a market that’s just beginning to happen,” said Donna Eide, director of store operations at Lingerie For Less. Lingerie For Less offers name-brand merchandise--including bras, panties, night wear and day wear--at deep discounts from department store prices, Eide said.

Eide said lingerie sales are booming because “lingerie is becoming outerwear. . . . People are wearing camisole tops to the workplace, out dancing, to nightclubs, everywhere. It’s now day wear.”

Both Lingerie Time and Lingerie For Less are targeting women between the ages of 24 and 45. Name brands are important to this age group because “customers are used to shopping in department stores and are comfortable with name brands,” Eide said. “We try to give them the product they want, the color they want, and the right price.”

Clothestime views Lingerie Time as an important part of Clothestime’s future.

“We believe this is a tremendous opportunity for Clothestime since there are currently no national, off-price specialty chains selling intimate apparel,” Ortega said.

Clothestime shares slipped 12.5 cents to close at $5.50 on Nasdaq on Tuesday.