Lane bryant coupon august 2018

Running head: LANE BRYANT, INC 1

LANE BRYANT, INC. 20

Executive Summary
Lena Bryant, the creator and owner of the first store for expectant mothers opened its doors on 5th Avenue in New York City in 1904, using the name of Lane Bryant, Incorporated. The clothing store since that time as shown growth to achieve being one of the largest fashion designers for women’s plus-sizes clothing, and has been growing in approval of the fashion industry and media groups.

The purchasing markets of foreign countries have been an underserved population for Lane Bryant. These customers rely on orders for products only through on-line catalog sales, mainly because there is not a store located in certain areas. The parent company Ascena Retail Group at present time has established retail locations in Canada and Puerto Rico, but these stores are operated through other companies that Ascena owns, such of Ann Taylors, Inc. and Tween Brands, Inc.

Expanding Lane Bryant’s globally into the United Kingdom and the country of France allows the patrons the capabilities to do shopping and know that the garments fit properly and would create a loyal customer base. This would allow Lane Bryant Inc. to increase profits and increase their customers along with expanding their brands.

Introduction
This document of Lane Bryant proposes whether the clothing retailer Lane Bryant Inc., should expand their establishments on a global basis. The clothing and fashioning industries are very competitive industries and one aspect that has been gaining attention is the women’s plus-size clothing line. Many women that require a larger size of 14 or above but still want clothes that fit properly and look nice to wear. Oversize ill-fitting looking garments do not flatter or make a woman feel accepted or confident. Lane Bryant Inc. has gained ground in the fashion industry with the women’s plus size clothing line, but many of these consumers’ are underserved by having to guess what size will fit properly and have to wait until they receive the merchandise to see if it fits. When the purchase does not fit properly, there is a long drawn out process of returning the item and having to wait for a refund. By globally expanding it will allow the company to expand their customer base by creating loyal customers, reducing expenses associated with the returns by allowing the consumer to return the item to the local store. While the customer is in the store the profits would increase due to additional purchases that might be made, and would gain in Lane Bryant’s share of the fashion industry and making them the leader of women’s plus size fashion globally.

Company Background

History
Lane Bryant Inc. was started by Lena Bryant who was an immigrant from Lithuanian in 1895. She started out as a seamstress tailoring bridal dresses and sewing garments for expected mothers. The demand for Lena’s creations grew and she was able to open her own shop in 1904. Lena Bryant was very independent and fashionable about her work which. She opened her shop on 5th Avenue in New York City under the name of Lane Bryant. The clothes for the expectant mothers became very popular item that she dropped the bridal dresses and focused on stylish well fitting clothes for expectant mothers. Being unable to do any advertising proved to be a very difficult task since in those days expectant mothers were kept in exile and not seen in public as they are today. Lena continued to persist in trying to do advertising and finally managed to have a small ad run in the New York Herald, which she was able to sell out of all her maternity dresses on the day the ad appeared (FundingUniverse 2004). Even with the success that Lena Bryant had with these ads, she continually was having problems with other printing companies unwilling to run the ads for her. At this point she turned her selling of garments through mail order catalogs.

In her thinking about how the clothes she had created and how she would start marketing them. Lena needed to stay in the public's eye and minds of her customers, she needed to know what the likes and dislikes of her customers were. By the use of a survey which was very unique at this time in the country and with the helping hand of her husband, they were able to launch their own survey exclusively for females, obtaining the results of over 200,000 by using the data from an insurance company and 4,500 customers of Lane Bryant. With the roaring 20's approaching, the garment industry was focusing on the slimmer and more physical side such as "Gibson Girls". Lena along with her husband organized the "woman of larger sizes that made up more than half the female population, that provided enough under-served customer base" (Reference for business, 2016). This was the time that Lena started identifying what the market was for her business. For the fashion industry the plus-sizes were not very popular, which gave Lena the opportunity to popularize the larger sizes (the plus-sizes). In the early twenties, 1922, was the time that advertising began on the campaign for "misses plus-sizes", This line brought in larger, and more selections of sizes to the clothing line of "misses category" (Lubitz, 2016).

Shortly after that, Lane Bryant stores had moved further west and began to open facilities, which was the first "chain" of stores. By opening additional stores it provided Lena the opportunity to reach additional customers, and the thought of expanding further in the future. Sales of Lena's brand names were continuing to grow, mail order sales had increased to over $5 million. Lane Bryant at this time decided to expand to include additional articles which included shoes, hosiery, and swim wear to her line of women's plus-sizes (FundingUniverses, 2004)

In her thinking about the clothes she had created and how she would market them, Lena Bryant needed to stay in the public’s eye and minds of her customers, she needed to know what the likes and dislikes of her customers were. By the use of a survey which was very unique at this time in the country. With the helping hand of her husband, they were able to launch their own survey exclusively for females, obtaining the results of over 200,000 women using the data from an insurance company and 4,500 customers of Lane Bryant. With the roaring 20’s just around the corner, the garment industry was already focusing on the slender and more athletic “Gibson Girl”. Lena and her husband Malsin found the “women of larger sizes” made up more than half the female population, providing an ample, underserved customer base” (Reference For Business, 2016). At this point Lena had identified the market for her company. For the fashion industry the plus size was “largely popularized by Lane Bryant, a store that was not always focused on larger sizes. In 1922, Lena began advertising “Misses Plus Sizes”, which offered a larger versions of clothing in the “misses category”, meaning exclusively for women” (Lubitz, 2016)

Within a short period of time, Lane Bryant began expanding out west and started opening stores to become a well known chain. This opportunity provided Lena the ability to reach more customers and looking to expand any further. The sales of her garments continued to grow, “the mail-order catalog sales increased in 1917 to over $5,000,000. Lane Bryant and this time decided to add additional articles such as shoes, hosiery, and bathing suits to her line of plus-sizes” (FundingUniverse, 2004).

As the organization continued to grow under the watchful eye of Lena, she remembered that one of your most important assets of the company were her employees, that she relied upon on a daily basis, and needed to be taken care of on a daily basis. This momentum was what Lena counted on and used when she created Lane Bryant to start with which she continued to carry though all of the aspects of her organization. Funding universe quoted as saying that " Lane Bryant was a pioneer in progressive human relations and one of the first to offer employees benefits such as health care options, and profit sharing" (FundingUniverse, 2004). By the end of 1981 the sales had grown to well over $400,000,000 and the stores had increased to 2000.

The 1980's brought about a new era for Lane Bryant. This era brought about a transformation and new life for the company. In 1982 the organization merged with The Limited Stores, Incorporation. According to Isadore Barmas, Lane Bryant had purchased the women's apparel chain of stores that was based out of Columbus Ohio for $100,000,000 (Barmas, 1983). Being the largest retailer of the plus-size clothing line, Lane Bryant would be adding to their fashion line by acquiring the Limited Stores. This would mean that Lane Bryant was expanding and using the stores of Limited Stores as their umbrella. This would bring in a fresh line of apparel, updating the clothes, bringing in a new customer clientele, and boost the overall image of Lane Bryant. Reinforcing that Lane Bryant was the largest retailer of the women's plus-size clothing line and would expand the fashions even more with Limited Stores fashions.

In the 1990’s Lane Bryant Inc. revised her marketing team to aimed at promoting larger body sizes; this promotion would included the endorsements of several celebrity endorsements. This time brought about many important discoveries for Lane Bryant Inc. which was a milestone, these included advertisements for women's plus size clothing that appeared in such fashion magazines as Marie Claire, Glamour, and Mode. Lane Bryant started up a web page informing the clientele about information regarding the garments promotions, along with the use of coupons that could be used in the stores for added discounts. These coupons could be printed out by the customers. The customer response was enormous; the costumers appeared in the stores in very large numbers “With the web site appearance, Lane Bryant has had 100,000 patrons sign up for regular mailings and promotions through emails in the last year and a half” (Goldman, 1999). The corporation started developing a new plan for a large promotion of the women's plus size line of fashions, “Lane Bryant had plan to do a live broadcast of what their vision of the plus-size by doing a fashion show that was to be simulcast over the Web and on billboards that would allow videos in the Sunset Strip areas and in Times Square in New York” (Goldman, 1999)

The next development for Lane Bryant took place in 2001 when the Limited Stores Inc. took over the Charming Shoppes Inc. According to Reuters, “ Charming Shoppes inc. had agreed to purchase the Lane Bryant stores for $335 million in cash and stocks. Lane Bryant at this time had a total of 653 stores and this merger would increase Charming's who also is the owners of the Fashion Bug and Catherine's Plus retail chains. Lane Bryant with this would have a larger appearance in shopping malls and would unchallenged leadership in the women's plus size which is the one of fastest growing departments in the fashion industry today” (Reuters, 2001).

In 2012 Ascena Retail Group purchased all of the Charming Shoppes Inc. at a cost of over $800 million. With this purchase Ascena experience meaningful growth for the organization. This purchase included the Dress Barn and Justice, a teen-age clothier to enter the plus-size growing market of women’s fashions. According to the CEO, David Jaffe of Ascena Retail Group, this acquisition is an opportunity at the correct time for the organization. David Jaffe stated “Charming Shoppes make an excellent strategic fit for Ascena which has major components of our strategy or growing over the past and made a selective and powerful acquisition” (Nazworth, 2012). Lane Bryant Inc. is and will continue to be a valuable part of the Ascena Retail Group family today.

Lane Bryant, with the assistance of Ascena Retail Group, providing the encouragement of their marketing crusade, “Lane Bryant the plus-sizes fashioning designer is spending $10 million on advertising to make the clothes and lineries more appealing to the current customers and any new consumers. It will include new advertisements; a reworking of the Web sites and reaching out to social media groups, along with marketing initiative for the in store customer. A new Lane Bryant logo will be included, along with Cacique Lingeries” (Levere, 2012).

Current Status
Lane Bryant Inc. is known to be one of the most recognized women’s plus size fashion stores in the country. There offering of apparel that is not only enhancing in appearance, and lingerie to accommodate women in the plus sizes making them affordable, and are eloquent to look at. Under the parent company Ascena Retail Group they “operate over 800 full-line and outlet store in 48 states nationwide, targeting the plus size women in the 30-45 age group, and catering to women sizes 14-28. Our highly regarded brand of intimates, Cacique is a Lane Bryant exclusive and is famous for fit solutions and fashion styling in bras, panties, sleepwear, swimwear and more” (Ascena, 2016)

In the fall of 2016 Lane Bryant Inc launched their collection reintroducing what was known as "the 6th and Lane" line of clothing. According to Bloomberg this line is “designed to itfit into the life styles of women that are conscious about personal styles. The line will be filled with the newest elated fabrics and designs that are innovating, that are allowing the Lane Bryant consumer to build an adaptable, fashionable collection of clothes” (Bloomberg, 2016). With the reintroduction of this collection the consumers will register to be placed on a mailing list to receive monthly arrivals of garments ranging from lingerie to swim wear.

Lane Bryant Inc. is continuing to move forward within the limits of having the women’s plus size apparels and most importantly that women are accepted in today’s society. Lane Bryant is using the support of celebrities, to help endorse the product, and the promotions that Ashley Graham, a model from Sports Illustrated, to continue the advertising of the plus size apparels. The advertisement that featured Ashley Graham was refused air time and inspired the campaign #IMNOANGEL. This campaign according to Rose “has been described as provocative, even though the models do not reveal anymore parts that other favored brands. Using “#ImNoAngel” – written in lipstick on a mirror- all are encouraged to share their designs across social media mediums. This campaign is stressing about how to help women gain the confidences to be the best that they can” (Rose, 2016).

New York’s Fashion Week designer Christian Siriano included the plus size models in his show, that showed a sign that the line was being acceptance by the general public. Christian Siriano had designed larger garments for family members long before he became a famous designer. He had been working jointly with Lane Bryant Inc. on their line of clothing and spoke about the clothing industry and his work with Leslie Jones. According to Murray “you celebrate people looking good. On the red carpet, I have adored women bigger than Leslie before” (Murray, 2016).

SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
Marketing
One of the wide ranges of strengths that Lane Bryant Inc has is in their marketing agenda, is when Lena Bryant did her survey about the wants and needs of woman, along with the practical internal data of the measurements that the consumers had given them. The results of this survey provided a good foundation for the marketing plan that identified their customers and provided them with what the company is looking for retaining loyal customers.

At present time the focus of marketing is about the same as it has always been, which includes product identification, the right pricing, doing promotions, and the right location; this particular form of procedure has been improving over time and have been incorporated with today's marketing quality. Lane Bryant is now selling merchandise that the consumers are wanting and are accustom to seeing in stores. Lane Bryant's product strategy is providing products that are easily recognized as the Lane Bryant brands. According to Lane Bryant's web site, "The company has partnered with Spanx, Bali, Goddess, and Seven7 jeans as a retail distributor for these third-party brands (Lane Bryant, 2018). Lane Bryant is working hard to continue to focus on keeping cost as low as possible for the merchandize to make the items as affordable for all women regardless of what size they may wear. One way to accomplish this goal is to offer discount coupons to consumers along with discount and reward coupons through Lane Bryant’s credit cards. Promotions are in various forms such as printed ads in popular magazines, television commercials, social media accounts, and through our sales associates. One of companies best advertisers are our sales associates. By talking with the consumers on what they are looking for, and what their wants and needs are.

Technology
Lane Bryant focuses on being a number one fashion advanced discoverer. In 2001, Lane Bryant was the leader in the fashion world and successfully brought to the world the 3-D imaging. According to Kurt Peters, Lane Bryant was the first in fashion to install the 3-D virtual model technology on the web site (Peters, 2001). According to Funding, "The My Virtual Model that was made public in 2001, gave the customers a glimpse of what the clothing would look like by creating a 3-D image and the perfect opportunity to see how an outfit looks and feels” (Funding, 2004). This imaging allows the consumers to have a close up look of how an outfit would look especially on them. The reaction to this imaging from the consumer had a very positive effect. According to Kurt Peters that any consumer that tried the new 3-D imaging of online clothes fitting technology would receive a coupon for in store use. This coupon increased sales purchases 233%, and on-line purchases 66% higher (Peters, 2001).

Customers that did use the new mobile apps were allowed to find what they wanted quickly and where able to find answers to any questions without a lot of hassle. According to Jonathan Lacoste, “regardless of the reason, if it was part of a wish list, or looking for a very special item, the consumer was able to receive recommendations for what they should wear with it” (Lacoste, 2016). The consumer would have information at their fingertips explaining the item. This app was also used to make the checkout process quick and easy that possesses the company credit card. The mobile app allowed the consumers to find other objects, do shopping, make credit card payments, and also have access to any coupons and special offers. The drawbacks are the user friendliness of the phones; however Lane Bryant is in the process of listening carefully to its customers, and coming up with a correction to the multiple problems and issues with the app, since it is a fairly new addition.

Ethics
Employees at Lane Bryant Inc are their most important asset and the company cares about each team member who works for them. They also expect any third party that work with the company to give their employees the same care. Lane Bryant Inc. along with their affiliates makes a effort to insure that the products that are produced are done in a socially responsible manner. By going further, Lane Bryant makes sure that “all our product vendors are bound by contracts to abide by all applicable employment and human rights laws, and the companies “Code of Conduct”, which emphasizes the importance of well-treated, fairly compensated workers. In addition Lane Bryant has a monitoring and compliance program” (Monitoring Program), which seeks to promote the maintenance of quality and safety standards in our manufacturing facilities and compliance with our Code of Conduct” (Lane Bryant, 2015). The corporation constantly monitors the supply chain for any risks to the industry or location and activates their own Monitory Program investigations. The monitoring Program includes “Vendor/Factory Certification Agreements, Verification of Supply Chain and Auditing of the Suppliers, Accountability/Vendor Non-Compliance, and Training (Lane Bryant, 2015).

Diversity
Lane Bryant is not only very appealing, but also a very gratifying organization to be a part of. Employees enjoy going to work every day and being able to help an individual fell like a “VIP”, and leave the store with a happy smile on their faces. So often a woman will go into a store not looking for a pleasant experience especially in the clothing industry. The customer is convinced that they are not going to find anything that they can wear that looks idea on them. The sales personnel at Lane Bryant Inc. are trained to help the consumer to find just that ideal fit. Regardless of what the consumer is looking for whether it be under garments or a business suit, the employees listen to what the customer are saying and reacting to the item. By listening carefully to what the customer is vocalizing the associate can tell exactly what to help the consumer pick out and what the store has to offer them. All of the associates carry with them a tape measure to insure the customer is obtaining the correct outfit along with the correct size. In this way the customer able to get the proper fitting size, along with the choices of garments, and are given an explanation of the different styles available to them. Work out clothing discussions would entail exactly what the physical activity the consumer will be using the clothing for. One thing will be how comfortable the item is to wear. Our associates are passionate about how to respect our customers at Lane Bryant Inc.

Recruiting employees for Lane Bryant is made through the company’s website, social media accounts and word of mouth. Job openings are posted not only on the company website, but also on such sites such as Careerbuilder.com, Careerbliss.com, and Indeed.com. On these sites the job descriptions make it clear exactly what Lane Bryant is looking for and that is a passion for fashion and sales positions are all about the product, the placement, and the customer (Indeed.com (2016). The job openings are also listed on LinkedIn.com, where there are employees on the site to offer any assistance with any questions. Employees are also recruited simply by word of mouth, loyal customers see the passion of the team members and the level of commitment to help customers and become interested in working someplace where they can make a difference to someone.

The demographics of Lane Bryant’s team base is mainly women; however there are many males that also work for the company. Looking at the career page on the company video the team base is diverse in the roles that the individuals fulfill (Lane Bryant, 2016). This video also shows men as sales associates, team members of every size and ethnicity.

Finance
The Lane Bryant Inc. is owned and operated by Ascena Retail Group, that do own many other clothing companies that include Ann Incorporated the and the Loft are owned and operated by Ann Taylor, Maurices Incorporated, Catherines Incorporated, along with the Dress Barn are all owned by Ascena. All of the above stores do sell the women's plus size garments deal with the women’s plus size or have a special section in the stores that are devoted to just the plus size line.

The fiscal year for the parent company Ascena Retail Group begins and ends in July. Lane Bryant's net sales have been increasing over the last several years past. In 2015 they were $1,080 million, in 2016 they were $1,095.9 million, and in 2017 they were $1,130.3 million. The sales figures shown above are somewhat smaller in comparison to what could be Lane Bryant’s potential were expected to be. Linsey Carman commented that Plus-size women sizes sales were up 17% since the year 2013, making the new business worth of Lane Bryant $20 billion today” (Carman, 2017). Even with these figures there is still room for growth in expansion and sales. Carman also stated “for the past years, plus-size apparel sales have exceeded total women’s clothing sales (Carman, 2017). Lane Bryant Incorporated would still need to take full advantage of any of these opportunities to capitalize when it comes to gaining more of the market shares.

Looking at Lane Bryant's operating income is bouncing back after showing a loss of $308 million in 2015. In 2016 they did show a gain of $20.6 million. The operating income losses of $308 million was due to the result of Lane Bryant Inc. of their goodwill and intangible assets being marked down to fair values. With this reduction in net income meant that Lane Bryant stores were well overvalued, however, over time they should regain all of the value back with the global expansions.

Lane Bryant has been increasing in the number of stores it is operating. In 2016 the number of stores went up to 7, and in 2015 there was a net loss of 5. With consideration that the sales growth of each pf the stores would depend on the quality of the products availability when they were being offered. Using the most effective method of advertising has brought an increase in consumers from around the world and will help to increase the share of the market.

Weakness
Marketing
Brian Beilter, the chief marketing officer for Lane Bryant, with 20 years of experience in marketing field has worked with leading brands, and brings these challenges to marketing a retail company. Retailing is especially a rapidly moving section for any organization. According to Jonathan Lacoste, in advertising if you just happen to make a few missteps, your consumers just walk a few doors down the mall to a new store, and making good changes can change the tide to bring consumers back to the store. This is a tremendous opportunity and challenge” (Lacoste, 2017). The retail view of a business has changed and requires the attention of the consumers to be more spread out. Lacoste also states other challenges, particularly in malls, are the locations have changed with the world wide web and eCommerce. Customers have to moved to using the web even more (Lacoste, 2017). These trends most have responses that have to be made in a reasonable amount of time. The manufacture of apparel and fashion industries has been reworked to deal with the fast moving society (Lacoste, 2017).

Location
Foreign customers of Lane Bryant Inc can purchase goods but only online, since they do not have any store locations internally for them to browse the merchandise in person. Many of their customers want to be able to actually see the garments, they want to touch the fabric and check the clothing to make sure that there are no defects such as broken zippers, or lose threads. A consumer survey that was taken in 2015 reveals, according to Carl Brooks, that nearly 40 percent of patrons would purchase inside a store at least once a week, compared to just 27 percent that purchase online (Brooks, 2015). Without the experience of sales personnel available it leaves the consumer guessing whether or not they will enjoy the purchasing, and if the correct size; also many foreign countries have to conservative with the American sizes and not the international or European sizing. There are other factors that draw patrons into stores, Brooks estimates that 65 percent of customers said like to shop inside of store to avoid the delivery fees, while more than 60 percent said it allows them to have the item immediately. Also, 61 percent like trying on the item before making a purchase (Brooks, 2015).

Purchasing of a garment should not be associated with any guess work at all. However, There is when buying items on-line the consumer is taking the risk that they will have to return the item for many reasons. There are also additional fees that may be associated with returning items at the customer’s expense, which places Lane Bryant Inc. at risk of losing customers. These cost do not end here, Lane Bryant Inc. then incurs the processing cost of the return that includes examining the item for any defects before the item or items are ready to be returned to inventory for reselling.

Finance
Ascena Retail Group, Inc. placed themselves in the position of acquiring a huge amount of debt with the purchase of Ann Taylors and Lofts. The purchasing according to Ascena was a cumulative price of $2.1 billion. The purchasing price consisted of approximately $1.75 billion in cash only and the issuance of 31.2 million in common shares of the company’s stocks valued at approximately $345 million. The cash amount was funded through borrowing of just under a $1.8 billion over a period of seven years, the variable rate of the term loan” (Ascena Retail Group, 2016). At the time of the loan, Ascena Retail Group had annual revenues of $7 billion in the year 2016. With revenues increasing they should be able to take out a loan to cover the cost of this acquisition. The loan was variable and with the changes in the political climate in the US could have an adverse effect on the economy, which in turn could change the rate of interest of the loan.

Opportunity
Social Media
Social media has been under used by Lane Bryant, Inc. when they are only using Facebook pages. For communication in today's world, social media is an accepted norm between the consumer and the company. If Lane Bryant would involve its self in more than one method of social media it would open the many doors for the company to attract more customers. When a company uses twitter, for example, for their business they have instant access to their consumers. Customer use their twitter accounts to let others know information about what sales are going on, any new fashions, any events that are takings place about new items they just purchased, or just the great service that they received. It is also used for information to a certain company, such as Lane Bryant creating a one-to-one conversation, “real-time communication helps to make happy customers, which in turn creates brand evangelist who drive positive brand sentiment” (Robshawn-Bryan, 2014). A consumer also uses twitter to communicate to Lane Bryant concerning their wants and needs of a particular piece of clothing that they are not able to find.

Launched in 2010, Instagram has according to Jenn Herman has reached 150 million active members, and speedier than any other group. Estimating the total to be about 65% of top one hundred brand names that use instagram (Herman, 2014). The only exception of instagram would be “Google Plus” it is not hard to see why this site would be force to be recognized.

Snapchat is one of the newest of the social networks that allows its users to share photographs and videos, or what the site calls “snaps” with additional ability to add stetches or even captions to records. Lane Bryant, Inc. would be able to gather excitement from its customers along with attention to themselves by becoming a member of Snap Chat. It would bring additional consumers into their stores. The only real problem that Snap Chat has is that the posts tend to disappear after a few seconds, and the sender has to choose how many seconds their messages will be visible before they self-destruct” (Jeppesen, 2014). This would and does cause a problems especially when running a unexpected time sensitive sale announcement via Snap Chat would be drumming up excitement from their customers and drive them to the stores when everyone is online not able to act quick enough.

Threat
The Competition
The women’s plus-size fashion industry has before very competitive, with the advantage of being hidden from society actually is accepting the change. The large retailers like Macy’s, Nordstrom, J.C. Penney, Wal-Mart, and Target stores, all carry a line of women’s plus sizes in the clothing section of the store. Each of these department stores have a large advertising budget and can to reduce prices below what Lane Bryant Inc. can reasonably price their garments. However, many of these competitors are not using the advertising for the plus size departments the way they should. Macy’s only has a catalog to view the plus size clothing line, but does not do any commercials to tell the general public what is available. The others in the same field do hardly anything in the way to advertise this section. The largest threat that Lane Bryant has, as a competitor, would be the under-pricing of the merchandise in order to lure customers but this in turn would decrease their profits.

Foreign Sources
Lane Bryant Inc. makes purchases under the guidance of Ascena Retail group, with a large portion of the merchandise coming directly from foreign markets. These markets include Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and indirectly through domestic vendors with foreign sources. Lane Bryant faces a large variety of risks that are associated with doing business in foreign markets and importing merchandise from aboard” (Ascena Retail Group, 2016). Any kind of a delay in these shipments from foreign countries could cuse a major loss of in profit due to a political instability, financials issues, terrorism, or even non-compliance with local laws for Lane Bryant, Inc,. The extreme threat could come from right here in our own country, when the President Trump has placed sanctions of trade with our foreign partners.

Capabilities, leadership, resources and structure

According to Ascena Retail Group the new CEO of Lane Bryant’s is Eric Hunter as of January 9, 2018 after the former CEO Linda Heasley resigned in June of 2017. At one time Hunter was the acting chief of marketing at JC Penny, where he handled strategy, research, creativity, media and customer relations. He was also marketing officer and group president of Kellwood Co.

The reason behind the turnover in CEO’s was due to the fact that the holiday season, 2017, had declined 3% in the comparable stores. The plus size sale for Lane Bryant decreased 2 per cent and one of the other companies, Catherine’s had fallen 7 percent. Many of the companies of the Ascena Retail Group have seen an increase in sales of about 4% . (Eaton, 2018).

Many companies including Lane Bryant have a simple mission and vision statements. Lane Bryant’s vision statement “Our continuing mission is to serve the lifestyle apparel needs of woman wearing plus-sizes with the very best service, fashion selection, value and fit”. Mission statement is “To be the company known for celebrating the lives and fashion image of women wearing plus sizes” (Lane Bryant, Inc. (2018).

Lane Bryant’s a partial organizational chart includes the President, vice president, regional sales manager, and the district sales managers. The goals of the organization include:

· Having complete customer trust, knowing that all personal information is secure, and all information honest.

· Fashion is a competitive industry and customers expect the lowest prices for the best quality of goods. This is achieved by adhering to a high standard of fair competition

· Lane Bryant is committed to being good citizens in the communities in which they operate. They are committed to conducting employees in an ethical manner, acting in accordance with our values and standards, which following the laws of the countries in which we operate.

· Moving sales and profit mix to a higher operating margin brands and channels.

· Utilizing the newly launched Lane Bryant catalog business and e-commerce platforms to better serve the customer base.

· Operating with a focus on cash flows generated in order to maintain significant financial flexible and appropriate liquidity,

Mission statement is “To be the company known for celebrating the lives and fashion image of women wearing plus sizes” (Lane Bryant, Inc. 2018). Lane Bryant is flexible about making improvements to the operations of our stores, and have a deep understanding about our employees, especially with health and safety regulations. We are always continually to improve our economic performance in the community.

The guiding principles and values play an important role in the success of Lane Bryant. Lane Bryant has five values that reflect the behaviors that shape the tone of how employees work with each other and with the company’s partners. The five values are integrity, leadership, ownership, passion for winning, and trust (Lane Bryant Inc, 2018)

Lane Bryant also has additional guiding principles that articulate the company’s unique work, every day. These additional principles area:

· We show respect for all individuals

· The interests of the company and the individual are inseparable

· We are strategically focused in our work

· Innovation is the cornerstone of our success

· We value personal mastery

· We seek to be our best

· We are extremely focus

· Mutual interdependency is a way of life.

(Lane Bryant, 2018)

The mission, vision, values, and guiding principles clearly guide Lane Bryant in the right direction. The company has been in business for 114 years, and even though at times has not been profitable, it has shown improvements.

Strategy and leadership are intertwined with one another. These are also trends that guide Lane Bryant. Lane Bryant is focused on strategies that are right for the long-term health of the company and that will deliver total shareholder return. Lane Bryant long-term targets are to grow in sales of about 2%faster than the market growth in which the company now competes, add any additional regions in the future. To achieve these strategic targets, Lane Bryant plans to win by touching and improving the lives of more women in more parts of the world. Lane Bryant will also leverage its core strengths in leadership to create competitive advantages that are critical to winning in the fashion industry. The driving forces of: customer knowledge, innovation, brand-building, market capabilities will allow Lane Bryant the opportunities to achieve their targets. Lane Bryant has a strong leadership and good strategies that have and will allow them to be a successful well rounded company.

Recommendations
Expand Globally in United Kingdom and France
Lane Bryant, Incorporated has plans for the future to expand the women's plus-size line of clothing into the United Kingdom and France. Lane Bryant is financially sound and in a good position to take on this expansion. For some time the plus-size fashion market has been accepted as well as needed in many areas of the international segment. The French Elle magazine in 2010 featured models wearing the plus-sizes with the runways in London. In June of 2016, the United Kingdom's economy dropped, however at present time it is recovering. According to Katie Allen, Seán Clarke and Paul Scruton in their article stated since the downfall of the economy, the EU has improved and that the ecomony is growing and the citizens of the UK are willing to start spending (Allen, Sean, Scruton 2016). The women's plus-sizes have been showing up on the fashion runways especially in London since the economy has started to improve. The magazine "French Elle" has been featuring the women’s plus sizes fashion on the runways, indicating that the fashion industry is being accepted in the London area. Lane Bryant Inc. is financially positioned that it could make a choice to expand globally into the United Kingdom and France.

A good foundation into the research will have to be done in order to make sure that the expansion is as smooth as possible. A team will be formed to make sure that this expansion is smooth, and without flaws. The group will consist of a project manager that will ensure that the transition is running smoothly. The rest of the team will consist of a finance, technology, marketing, logistics, legal, human resources managers along with business partners that are from the United Kingdom and France side.

Finance
The first undertaking would be for the company to hire legal counsel out of the UK and France that are trained in the laws of these countries. At this point, a discussion can beginning with the department heads as to exactly what information would be needed and what each of the department’s tasks would be to make the expansion a success. The business lawyers would have to familiarize themselves with each country along with the local laws to assist in preparing the legal document, the filings of the proper documents, and determining what fees would be required.

When beginning to set up a new business or enterprise requires that the financing, and a place to handle the money is to be place, before the actual business has opened. This would involve setting up of business accounts at the local financial institutions in the areas in which the business is located. This process is easier and less confusing if it is with someone from the country the business will be operating in that is familiar with the local requirements.

Another problem would be an finding an affordable location, in order to accomplish this, it would entail working was a reputable real estate agent that knows the area, to place the stores in an area where the consumer traffic is the greatest. The cost of the real estate needs to be looked at. According to Larry Harding a business that opens up an establishment in the London area should expect the payments to be about 20% higher than in the United States (Harding, 2015). France has about the same comparable expenses as the United Kingdom has.

There are many positives aspects when expanding globally by a company that can be financially sound and would save finances. There are many additional expenses that also need to be looked at. The Income taxes in foreign countries may be different than in the United States Harding said that corporate income tax is usually lower than what it is in the U.S. Also, becoming effective in April, 2015 the United Kingdom will start charging a rate of 20%. "The customs duties in the United Kingdom ranges from 0.5 percent to as much as 10.0 percent, and they do imposes an import tax (VAT) amounting to 20 percent. This import tax (VAT) has been set up to be only a temporary tax liability that is supposed to be reversed as soon as the merchandize is sold ” (Harding, 2015).

Another issue that must be considered is what currency will be used, the United Kingdom uses the pound and France uses the euro. Choosing to use a currency customers or suppliers do not use can cause a lost of business. A decision about the right currency should not be taken lightly as the currency market is always fluctuation. According to Wells Fargo a company should always research the industry before negotiating any contracts or setting any price of merchandise. In some circumstances, using the local currency may provide a competitive advantage” (Well Fargo, 2016). Always negotiate to lock in a rate at the same time that the contracts are signed or even a shorter time between the order and the payment.

Technology
There are many customers in the United Kingdom that wait to do shopping until the last minute, and in a survey that was conducted many shoppers prefer to pick up their own orders, “60 percent of those shopping use what the UK refer to as "click-and-collect". The businesses that do use this form of shopping are doing their customers a favor showing loyalty, but alos the escort the shoppers to the stores. This at times will let the customer do a little impulse buying” (Hendriksz, 2016). Lane Bryant's will provide the opportunity to the company to gain profits by promoting the combination of the click-and-collect to their customers. Store pickups is also another option at the check-outs, but a running advertisements is also a option from bringing in additional consumers.

Many of the stores, especially in the London areas, use Burberry as thier on-line experience in their stores, The stores that are associated with Burbery have I pads equipped in each store that makes shopping for its customers closer than online. The use of Ipads allow the associates to place orders for goods that are not always available in the stores. The use of the IPad also adds a high level of convenience and personalization. Many of the associates know the customers, and know what they like and dislike, and have a good understanding what is available on line, what is in their shopping cart, and what they have said about Burberry on social media accounts, along with how many have called customer service” (Keller, 2014)

Working with their technology department, the transition team can equip the sales associates with an iPad that connects them to the internal network of Lane Bryant Inc. and all social media outlets. The sales associates have at their fingertips the ability to help the customer find the garment they are looking for and ship it to store or their home. Through social media, the sales associate can take pictures and load them directly to the Lane Bryant Inc. sites. It will also allow them to take photos and notes of customer requests that can be sent directly to the marketing team.

Marketing
The marketing in the United Kingdom and France are very much like what is used in the United States. There is an emphasis that is placed on social media, with window displays that caught a person's eye. Usually a store will carry reward card programs. Of course, commercials of all kinds along with printed ads.

An SMG team should be formed of the most tech savvy experienced Social Media Guru’s to develop a plan for deploying a massive launch of store opening media on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter. Video of work being done to prepare the stores can be broadcast to increase the excitement. Photos of the garments can be posted to show the varieties available. More importantly, the team is there to answer questions from customers that are posted online or respond to posts by customers.

The Marketing team needs to research competitors or designers to see how they are going about marketing their brands to see what works and what doesn’t. Sending the team out into the field to document what they see, hear, and feel. Not just by going to the competitor stores, but stopping shoppers on the streets to ask them what they wear and why, what promoted them to buy, how does the garment make them feel. More customers are looking for goods that are environmentally friendly or sustainable. Environmentally friendly garments may be more costly, but customers are willing to pay more for fashionable looks by well-known designers such as, Stella McCartney, “who forgoes using leather in her shoes and handbags” (Keller, 2014).

Logistics
The area and the location is important to the stores to make it a easy point for the deliver of the items. A location that is hard to get to might cause a delay in receiving the merchandise. The layout of the store can also cause many problems with displaying of the garments and making problems for consumers to find the garments they are looking for.

The local real estate agent will be very helpful in finding a location for a store, but also in finding the proper space for a distribution center that is close and esy to get to and from the stores. The employing of drivers that are local that know the area to deliver the products to and from the warehouse will not only save time, but will also save funds. All trucks should be equipped with GPS that shows all traffic and construction that is going on to avoid in delays in delivery.

Lane Bryant’s main distribution center is located in Ohio. According to Dan Eaton,Ascena will establish and run the distribution center for more than 3,800 stores from the warehouse that is located in Etna Township. The company plans to expand the operation with the addition of a high-speed sorting system and the additional of robotics, which will save up to 25 percent in processing costs per unit that is due in part to consolidation and increased abilities. The new center will allow Ascena to streamline logistics” (Eaton, 2012).

Human Resources
It is completely different running a business in the United States and running one overseas. There are employment laws that are different and should be completely researched and followed to ensure proper handling. Hiring experience Human Resource member from the UK and France will aid in making sure all rules are followed and issues are avoided. A high quality of stardards needs to be followed when looking for potential members regardless of what country the business is in. Whenever a termination is necessary, “the concept of at-will employment is almost nonexistent out of the US, and mandatory termination payouts can be significant no matter what the country of operation. In the United Kingdom if there is any hint of discrimination or failure to follow proper employment guidelines, a company may find unfair dismissal costs that can exceed $100,000”(Harding, 2015).

France has a higher cost of percentages paid to social security, medical, and a large segment of the employees are unionized. In addition, “there is extra pay for holidays, overtime and training. A word of caution about bonuses: discretionary bonuses may become contractual based on perceived precedent. There is also matter of of mandatory work week of 35 hour” (Harding, 2015)

The surrounding communities should be research for culture by the human resources tea to learn how they interact with the businesses, the impact of the business on livelihood, and what the business can do to enhance their community. Hiring members from the community can improve relations and bring the business closer to them in an effort to become be part of the family. Taking part in cultural celebrations, providing training to encourage personal growth, and learning the language will help to promote Lane Bryant as being a solid member of the community.

Business Law
Local attorneys should be hired to handle the business related laws will alleviate fears of trying to go through the hurdles alone. Charlie Skuba, a professor of practice in international business at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business states, “There are new laws being created some developing markets continually, so you have got to be aware of our local laws and how they affect your contracts. A good contract should, at a minimum, define how you arbitrate disputes without going to expensive lawsuits, define the scope and terms of the agreement, define the reporting relationship, define who keeps the books and who has access to the books” (Wells Fargo, 2016).

Don’t Expand Globally
Ascena Retail Group with the acquisition of Ann Taylor took on a huge amount of debt. What is also concerning is that the loan that was taken out is a variable rate loan. Should the economy take a downturn it could mean the global expansion for Lane Bryant Inc. would not be viable. An economic downturn would impact all of the fashion companies that are owned by Ascena.

Improve Foreign Purchase Process
If the global expansion fails, the improvements could be made to the foreign purchase process for the consumers. Making this process easier will aide in keeping current customers and the quality customer service experience will attract new customers.

The 3D technology of modeling should be brought back, the technology is relevant to the times and allows customers to virtually see how the garments would look being worn. Initially launched in 2001, the service was discontinued. With the emphasis more and more on technology driven products and on-line shopping, the virtual shopping feature would enhance the shopping experience of the customer. The 3D shopping feature was called 3D-ME@LB and featured more than 3,000 outfits, “the company says creates a more realistic depiction of a shopper’s body from many different angles including front, sides and back” (Peters, 2001).

The expectation of the foreign customers that they will pay for the shipping to return garments should be discontinued. The customers are relying on information given to them online to determine if a garment fits correctly, if an error in sizing happens, Lane Bryant inc. should be the one to cover the cost of these returns.

In addition to covering the return cost, the Marketing team should look into developing packaging that allows the customer to ship the product back using the same packaging.

Dearfoams uses this process, “Repack your merchandise securely in the original package. Enclose the original packing slip to ensure proper credit. Be sure to keep a copy of the packing slip for your records. Affix the prepaid label to the package and return to” (Dearfoams, 2016). The package is simply turned inside out, a tear away plastic strip exposes the adhesive strip, and the end of the bag is folded over to close the seal. This is something that can be done now and not a necessity of whether they expand or not. Providing quality customer service to both the foreigh and domestic customers will help keep loyal customers.

Conclusion
Lane Bryant Inc. and their parent company Ascena Retail Group are financially stable to take on an expansion to the UK and France. It is a natural progression of the fashion retailer to expand globally in order to retain those loyal customers they have developed overseas. The plus size industry, “is valued at $17.5 Billion and expected to grow. As a result of Lane Bryant’s efforts, they now hold a 16% market share and have seen incremental sales growth over the last three fiscal years” (Rupp 2015). Plus size fashion is growing steadily and in order to maintain being the largest retailer, Lane Bryant Inc. needs to take this step to gain more of the market share and keep it. The plus size fashion market in the UK, “is not a niche, negligible area of business. The average dress size in the UK is 16 and, as a result, the plus size market constitutes 12.4% of all clothing sales and is worth in excess of £5 billion while a quarter of UK women have bought plus-size clothing in the past year” (Rutter, 2016). The opportunity for growth is there; Lane Bryant Inc. only needs to reach for it.

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