The importance of the plus-size market is something Toronto retailer Big, Bold & Beautiful has known for more than 10 years.
Sixty-five per cent of the female population requires specialty-sized clothing, either petite or plus, with more than half that number in the plus-sized category.
At present, Big, Bold & Beautiful has one location in Toronto, but by the end of next year it expects to have more than 20 across Canada.
Expansion is expected to concentrate first on central Ontario, then Quebec, and then Eastern and Western Canada.
Big, Bold & Beautiful will also add two more corporate stores in the Toronto area.
Headed by Jacqueline Hope, Big, Bold & Beautiful, carries Hope’s own line of plus wear, Jackie Jackie, and now carries designers Ellen Tracey, Peter Nygard and Jones of New York.
As well, three years ago, Hope began a mail-order operation for a booming specialty order business.
The catalogue comes out twice a year and is mailed to a list of 50,000 in Canada and 65,000 in the u.s.
In the past, Big, Bold & Beautiful did national newspaper and magazine advertising, but, last month, it launched its first tv commercial to run through February in central Ontario.
The 30-second spot takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to the size issue. It stars Hope reclining seductively on a couch.
To the camera, she says, ‘Some men will try and tell you that more than a handful is wasteful. But, then, you know what they say about men with small hands.’
The commercial ends with, ‘Size is never an issue at Big, Bold & Beautiful.’
