Fact: The average woman in the U.S. weighs 164 pounds and wears a size 14 dress, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fact: The average woman (and those who are slightly larger) is pretty much out of luck in many shops in the U.S. if she thinks she can go into a store and buy something that will fit her.
According to a Crain's New York Business report, many merchants across the country are removing larger size items from store racks. Chains such as Bloomingdale's have reduced space for so-called plus sizes and Ann Taylor only sells size 16 dresses online.
"It's almost as if certain retailers have said, 'I'll worry about losing these customers later on,'" Andrew Jassin, managing director of Jassin-O'Rourke Group, told Crain's.
Retailers have some justification in reducing inventory to consumers in sizes 14 and up, some say, because sales are down whether they are in stock or not. Plus-size dress sales (sizes 16 and up) were off eight percent for the 12 months ending in March. By contrast, regular size items were down two percent for the same period.
Not everyone has abandoned women with double-digit dress sizes. According to Crain's, Eileen Fisher and Liz Claiborne are designing plus-sized fashions and chains including Forever 21 and Target are testing to determine the market opportunity.
Discussion Questions: Are retailers missing an opportunity by not carrying clothes that fit the average-sized woman in America? What do you think about the opportunities offered online, in catalogs and stores for clothes size 14 and above?