Back in May, the talk was about how Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bloomingdale’s had scaled back or eliminated their petite department (see my post: Where’s the Petite Department). This did not go over well, as there is still a large segment of the population who is shopping for petite clothing. A few weeks later, Saks recanted and announced that they would be increasing their petite offerings for the fall (see my poist: Sak’s restores petite department after outcry).
I came across this excellent article in today’s Ventura County Star business section. It is called Size Matters: Petite apparel appears to be in short supply. It is extremely well written and very detailed about the state of the petite department in today’s stores.
Petite clothing sales generated $8.9 billion in 2005, remaining flat owing to the lack of choices from manufacturers and retailers, according to market researcher Mintel International Group Ltd. in Chicago.
But image consultant Ellen York argues there are still 43 million petites in the United States who will not let the specialty size die. Studies show that as many as 43 percent of women in the U.S. could be classified as petite.
The biggest issues I’ve seen facing the petite department in America today is not offering the fashion that women want and not adapting quickly enough to demand. There are a few retailers that I’ve watched that have offered petite clothing but, the be blunt, have half assed it. Owning such a small penetration of the overall company’s business, petites is a department that can get quietly brushed aside by some retailers. That’s led to bad fashion and bad inventory control at at least three major retailers that I’ve watched over the past 18 months.
Retail’s biggest mistake with the petite department: Just because the woman is short, fashion buyers seem to assume she is old, or at least wants to dress old. Across the board, the fashion offerings in Misses Contemporary Sportswear divisions, in most retailers, is not as “old” looking as it once was. A woman who is 50 or 60 today doesn’t want to wear elastic waist pants and dull color choices. The shift is towards fashionable but appropriate clothing. Misses departments have reacted to this – Petite departments have not. Where’s the clothing for the short 25 year old woman who is just starting her career? It appears that most retailers are just reacting to this now (as in the past few seasons) and offering the clothing she needs. I think that explains one reason why sales have been flat.
Department stores have not reacted quickly enough to this change in fashion trends, explaining why it looks like they have lost marketshare, in the petites department, to mall-based specialty retailers like Ann Taylor and Banana Republic. The biggest challenge is going to be the continuing turnaround of this department in most department stores, trying to reclaim that lost marketshare.
Like I said, the article above is really great. Lots of detail and insight into the petite apparel business and where it is going today.