Chain Sees Big Business in Larger Sizes
Lane Bryant wants to be the biggest name in plus-size clothing.
Toward that end, the Limited Inc. unit has positioned itself as an advocate for “realistic body sizes,” taking its message of up-to-the-minute fashions for larger women into mainstream beauty magazines and onto the World Wide Web with the help of a well-known large-size actress.
Now, in its greatest gambit yet to differentiate the company in an increasingly crowded field, Lane Bryant plans to broadcast its vision via a plus-size fashion show, simulcast on the Web and on video billboards in the minus-sized playgrounds of the Sunset Strip and New York’s Times Square.
The idea, taken from the visitor-clogged Webcast last winter of sister company Victoria’s Secret, is another way for the company to identify with customers while declaring that it is to plus-size fashion what Abercrombie & Fitch is to college clothing.
Lane Bryant’s stunt comes as many in the fashion industry, including plus-size Mode magazine and plus model Emme, proclaim big to be more than just acceptable. For a growing group that includes the ever widening, fashion-conscious baby boomers, being large has become a statement of individuality and confidence.
Seeing opportunity, Lane Bryant has signed as its spokesmodel plus-size of-the-moment actress Camryn Manheim. The size-22 Emmy winner from TV’s “The Practice” is also the author of “Wake Up, I’m Fat,” a book that has drawn devoted fans from the same circles Lane Bryant would like to tap.
It is all part of a much-needed image make-over for Lane Bryant, which saw its sales plummet in the early 1990s because of stale fashions and poor leadership.
Beginning in 1995, the chain’s top executives brought in veteran marketers and a general merchant and charged them with drawing younger customers by raising the fashion bar. The new team stocked the stores with the same kinds of belly-button-baring, hip-hugging styles featured in the Limited’s other stores, including bare-midriff halter tops, silky camisoles, skinny-strap slip dresses and stretch T-shirts.
The company also refurbished about a quarter of Lane Bryant’s 730 stores to reflect a new, more modern image.
“We realized more and more four years ago that our customers really weren’t happy with our offering,” said Jill Dean, the chain’s chief executive. “We really needed to start to make a pretty dramatic change in our business.”
Analysts believe the company is recovering from its slump. One analyst estimates Lane Bryant earned $45 million in 1998, an improvement over 1996 but well off peak earnings of $132 million in 1992. Lane Bryant doesn’t report income.
“Lane Bryant has turned the corner; however, they still have quite a bit of ground to cover,” said Todd Slater, a retail analyst with Lazard Freres & Co. in New York.
Regaining its position won’t be easy. Though it is one of the country’s largest purveyors of plus-size clothes, Lane Bryant faces stiff competition. Specialty stores such as Old Navy and Talbots have been adding bigger sizes every year. And department stores are deepening their assortment in sizes 14 and up.
Lane Bryant hopes to build sales by galvanizing attitudes.
Its Web site (at https://www.lanebryant.com) features a petition, to be given to “Hollywood directors,” stating that the undersigned “want to see more realistic body types portrayed in the media.” Nearly 6,000 people have signed.
And it’s partnered with fashion magazines, a genre identified with ultra-thin models, to promote Lane Bryant as a trendsetter. Lane Bryant bought space for its in-house-produced ads in Marie Claire and gained rights to use the magazine’s name for a special in-store promotion called “Marie Claire says.” It advertised in Glamour magazine and also joined Glamour’s beauty and fashion fair tour of 20 college campuses.
The company also hired Manheim and top-notch glam photographer Ellen Von Unwerth to shoot her.
“They’ve been managing Lane Bryant as a brand as opposed to an apparel chain, and they’ve been more consistently delivering that message over the last year,” said analyst Slater.
If Victoria’s Secret’s fashion show is any indication, a Webcast fashion show at the very least will get Lane Bryant noticed. The lingerie seller drew so many people to its show--more than 1 million visits, including many from men--that the cybercast featuring Tyra Banks and other supermodels was plagued by technical glitches.
Lane Bryant says it doesn’t expect any problems, both because it learned from its sister company’s mistakes and because it anticipates a much more focused audience of current customers and, the company hopes, new plus-size women.
Even without Internet-choking numbers, the show, set for Tuesday, will be a success if it can raise the company’s profile as an understanding fashion friend of potential shoppers. Lane Bryant would be glad with even a fraction of the 10% sales growth Victoria’s Secret achieved during the month of its show.
The Web has already played a role in increasing the store’s profile. On the Lane Bryant site, visitors see that plus-size clothing has come a long way from tent dresses, as well-proportioned, confident-looking models show off revealing outfits.
Since Lane Bryant first put up its Web site a year and a half ago, the company has registered 100,000 customers who signed up to receive regular mail and e-mail promotions and special offers.
Lingerie, the company said, is among its bestsellers, accounting for 20% of the stores’ business.
“Intimate apparel is the epitome of the Lane Bryant promise,” explained Marketing Vice President Chris Hansen. “You too can look sexy, you too can have a man in your life--or already do--and you too can look feminine and gorgeous.”
To prove they mean business, Lane Bryant plans a move that will give it even more in common with Victoria’s Secret.
In February, the company plans a lingerie fashion show. Intimates’ double-digit growth meant to company executives that they needed to give the plus-size underclothes their own special show--though it might not be shown on the Web, Hansen said.
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A Plus for Retailers
As the number of overweight American women grows, so does their need for plus-size clothing--clothes size 14 or larger. Department stores, specialty retailers and special plus-size shops such as Lane Bryant all hope to capture those dollars.
A Sizable Market
Lane Bryant’s Web site notes that more than 40 million American women are a size 14 or larger. And sales in that segment are increasing, up 4.4% in 1998.
U.S. sales of women’s clothes size 14 and larger:
1997: $22.7 billion
1998: $23.7 billion
Source: National Retail Federation
