Fitting rooms getting Larger – nothing new in our world

Retail chain installs super size ‘lounges’ for larger customers  Something new you make think but not in our case. Over 17 years ago our previous company 100% Woman set up a dress shop for the larger lady with just this. Large changing rooms and sofas for the men to sit on while being fed food and drink. It was very successful but unfortunately family issues led to the closure.

However the plus size retailers have now decided that this is the way forward according to an article in the Daily Mail

Britons’ losing battle with their bulging waistlines has prompted one store chain to install supersized ‘fitting lounges’ to accommodate bigger customers.

Plus-sized retailer Simply Be opened a store in Liverpool and Manchester this month where it replaced normal sized changing rooms with the jumbo variety.

The firm, which caters for larger and taller women, has also introduced sofas into its fitting rooms, rather than chairs, so shoppers can comfortably park themselves.

Plus-sized retailer Simply Be opened a store in Liverpool and Manchester this month where it replaced normal sized changing rooms with the jumbo variety

Even the mannequins on the shop floor have been made double the normal size to avoid larger outfits hanging off the smaller dummies.

Retail giant N Brown, which owns Simply Be, is one of the few groups making a killing catering for Britain’s ballooning population.

A recent study has shown almost half of British men could be obese within 20 years while women will be close behind, with four in ten similarly overweight by 2030.

 Historically N Brown has sold its clothing through catalogues and the internet because larger customers have been too embarrassed to leave their homes to try on garments in High Street stores.

But chief executive Alan White said a spike in demand from larger customers over the past year has caused it to rethink its approach and last week it opened its first ‘bricks and mortar’ stores, with plans for five more in 2012.

White told the Mail yesterday: ‘In the last few days we have opened Simple Be stores in Liverpool One and at The Rock in Bury. These stores are aiming to give Simply Be’s current and potential customers a better shopping experience.

‘We will be monitoring the results with a keen interest. Initial responses from customers have been very positive but it is early days.’

The larger fitting rooms have a boutique ‘boudoir’ feel to them and come complete with ‘Magic mirrors’.

These take four photos of the customer and allows them to email how they look in a garment to friends for a second opinion. It avoids the shopper suffering the embarrassment of having to leave the changing area.

Have you been to these stores – why not tell us your experience ???