Lane bryant mail order catalog

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)