ATLANTA — From a basic slip to a bridal negligee, Danbury Apparel works on the idea that the plus-size woman has the same lingerie needs as a regular-size customer. The concept seems to be paying off.
The Madison, N.C.-based company is a division of 73-year-old Gem-Dandy Inc., also in Madison, whose other products are men’s and boys’ accessories. Gem-Dandy bought the lingerie business in the early Sixties and for many years operated it as a contractor producing misses’-size lingerie for other vendors and catalog private label.
In 1978, looking for a niche, Danbury went into plus sizes and two years ago decided to build its own market identity with its own Danbury Apparel brand and expansion of its styling efforts. With this development, the firm has been gradually cutting back on its contracting and private label. Currently, the branded line accounts for 75 percent of its business.
The branded line is being bought by such stores as Nordstrom, Seattle; Abraham & Straus, New York; Dayton Hudson, Minneapolis, and Rich’s, Atlanta.
Sales of Danbury in 1991, before the branded line started, were “between $5 million and $8 million,” according to Jack Wilner, general manager, who wouldn’t be more specific.
Since then, the firm has seen annual sales increases of about 20 percent, and this year, with expanded selections in sleepwear, a gain of 40 percent is projected, Wilner said.
The line consists of daywear such as slips, camisoles and panties along with a lingerie group of nightgowns, robes and teddies. There’s also a group of bridal ensembles that incorporate sheer mesh, beading and lace. The collection is available in sizes 1X to 5X. Styles range from basic pieces to pretty jacquard-patterned robes and nightgowns with plunging necklines and lace trim.
“Our style is sexy, yet tasteful. We add touches like lace and beading — too-sexy turns our customer off,” said Jeff Shuford, designer and merchandiser.
Shuford said the firm’s target customer is from 30 to 50 years old, in the middle-income bracket and in touch with fashion.
“She likes to wear the trends. Everything translates into large sizes,” he said. For spring there’s the poet’s nightshirt in polyester satin with ruffled collar and cuffs as well as a simple polyester charmeuse slip gown with matching robe. Wholesale prices range from $10 to $58.
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The collection is mainly polyester satin and polyester charmeuse, with only a few cotton pieces. Shuford said today women are restricting their sleepwear buying to special occasions and to bridal.
“Most of the time, women sleep in T-shirts or boxer shorts. If they are going out to buy lingerie, it’s for a specific reason — and plus-size women get married, too.”
All production and shipping is done in the firm’s two Madison factories. The company also maintains a in-house inventory on basic pieces.
“Turnaround time is slower in our market [compared with the regular-size market], so we try to make it easy for the retailer to keep a small amount of stock and get quick reorders,” Wilner said.
Still, Wilner said that many stores still don’t recognize the buying power of the plus-size customer. He pointed out that one-third of all American women are size 14 or higher and that the large-size industry grew 25 percent in 1992. Nevertheless, he said, it takes time for a store to establish a name.
“It takes a good two years for a store to attract a large-size customer, for the word to spread and to keep them coming in,” he said.
Wilner said the key to Danbury’s business is its concentration strictly on the plus-size customer. “We’re not taking regular sizes and upgrading. We cut for the large size woman. We’ve studied her and are committed to satisfying her needs.”