Dive Brief:
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Versa Capital Management is putting its Avenue plus-size clothing stores chain up for sale.
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The private equity firm buys out distressed companies and steadies them for a sale; Versa bought Avenue Stores LLC three years ago.
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The plus-size market is a neglected area of retail poised for growth, according to many observers.
Dive Insight:
Women's clothing size 14 and up accounted for $16.2 billion in sales in 2013, up 7.2% year over year, and totaled $18 billion for the year ending this June, according to the NPD Group. And while the average U.S. woman's size is 14, according to several sources, her choices are limited.
At a time when “disruption” is the name of the game, plus-size retail is ripe and ready to be disrupted. After all, the area suffers from marketing and merchandising neglect, but also has potential customers clamoring to buy.
“The perfect storm is in place for the plus-size market to grow,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for NPD, told Bloomberg.
That bodes well for this particular turnabout project for Versa and Avenue.