The Plump Pound!

The terminology of the ‘Pink Pound’ is well known, but I wanted to speak out in defence of the ‘Plump Pound’ a far lesser known phenomenon!

As a larger lady, it has always been an enormous frustration when shopping, that so few retailers have anything to offer anyone over a size 14!

It seems to be assumed that anyone bigger than a stick insect only wants to wear a sack and has absolutely NO interest in fashion. I am here to tell you (very) short sighted retailers that this is far from the case.

Tanya Gold in the ‘Daily Mail’  writes ‘Clothing shops don't cater for me. In fact, they detest me. In Bond Street, I am literally waved away from the racks of precious clothes.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1088455/In-defence-fatties--Let-eat-cake.html#ixzz0Q9nH9yLF

Unfortunately, Tanya is not alone.

All retailers are currently in a battle for survival and with the news this week from ‘BDO Stoy Hayward’, that a further 5,000 retailers will go bust next year, it seems astonishing to me, that this larger (in every sense of the word) area of the market goes so unnoticed. Surely having a full range of clothing up to a Size 18 or 20 would be a canny move for any business and would only help to increase your market percentage.

It may be news to retailers; however people over a size 6 are fully able to have a career and therefore a pay packet, along with a life! Like everyone, they also like to spend – so why is this area of the marketplace constantly ignored?

I have always worked in fashion and could tell you about numerous occasions when new product has come into the store and I have been unable to actually wear the clothes, as they seemed to be designed for people with no curves at all. Yes – certain outfits are better on both the slim AND the young, but the prevailing attitude that anyone a little bigger can’t look good or fashionable is a myth!

When I recently lost weight, I remember the BIGGEST pleasure was being able to walk into any store and be able to find clothes that fitted. Shopping suddenly became about buying something you loved and that made you feel fantastic, rather than just about finding something that fitted! Retail therapy indeed!

But surely this is a massive opportunity for stores to start widening their appeal and broadening their customer base and therefore, by default, ensuring their continued survival?

There are some stores which do cater for the 16 plus customer, and I would mention Evans, as a retailer who, over the last couple of years, has made big inroads into both fashionable and wearable clothing. www.evans.co.uk

However, as a woman, I don’t always want to ‘have’ to go to a specialist retailer, particularly when I look around me and see that as a nation we are getting larger and larger. How ‘special’ are we, when over 40% of the female population is a size 16 plus? Maybe we should look upon the tiny Size 6 girls as ‘special’?

I would also address the Sales Assistance view of the more curvaceous Customer. A recent study by Bianca Price, of the University of South Australia found that many Customers were put off by ‘pretty staff’,  She concluded that ‘The key for retailers was to hire “women of all shapes and sizes - someone for each of your potential customers to relate to”.’www.retail-week.com/retail-sectors/fashion/pretty-staff-may-put-off-shoppers/5005419.article.  Added to this, as Tanya comments above, the attitude of your average Sales Assistant can also be stumbling block to sales.

So what can you do to ensure that you cater for EVERYONE that comes through your doors? It is more difficult to have a massive impact on what sizes your business stocks, however, I was always a big champion of improving this and did manage to have some influence in a well known fashion chain, who finally accepted that their product range could go up to a Size 18. So you can make a difference!

Training your team on product knowledge and having a good understanding of how your clothing fits and looks is also a key driver and is only delivering the basic service that any client might expect. Also spending time with your team around understanding body shapes and nurturing in them a strong desire to send your customers out of the store feeling great is another good start!

Don’t forget – the ‘Plump Pound’ pays your staffs wages just as much as the next persons.....

Maybe this could be the key to many retailers continued success and an opportunity to prevent some of those predicted retail insolvencies?

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