Reinventing the Shopping Experience

Winter 2005 Issue

By Cece Feinberg

More than 16 years ago, Lisa Shapiro smartly set her sights on an untapped market: affluent, plus-sized women with discerning fashion tastes. Since then, her chain of retail stores — named Lisa Todd — has flourished and become a driving force in helping change the misconception that full-figured women are less fashionable than their smaller-sized counterparts.

A former buyer for Burdines, Shapiro, then 29, went on vacation to Hong Kong to look for business ideas. Through a fortuitous turn of events, she met an agent who told her big sizes were becoming very popular. Shapiro was struck by how perfect the concept seemed. When she returned to the states and started researching in earnest, she learned that although 50 percent of American women are size 12 and larger, only 20 percent of women’s clothing retailers target that market.

In a matter of weeks, her mind was made up. She would open a larger-size specialty store catering to sophisticated, chic women who love to look fabulous. She began knocking on the doors of clothing manufacturers in Manhattan, persuading them to design for women size 14 and up.

“A large segment of the female population is full-figured, confident, and successful, and they want to wear the same fashions that are displayed in the finest department stores,” she explained in her pitch.

A Shopping Experience with Plus-Size Service

Shapiro opened her first Lisa Todd store in 1987 in South Miami, blending exquisite service, elegant store design, and plus-size fashions similar to those found in magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar. Since then, she has expanded the Lisa Todd retail name to three locations.

Each of the beautifully designed stores offers customers a plush, comfortable interior. Vases and object d’art are scattered throughout, evoking a feeling of casual elegance. The establishments feature hip and trendy casual wear, chic career wear, haute couture evening gowns, and luxurious furs and leathers. A full line of accessories — including plus-size belts, jewelry, scarves, and handbags — is available, enabling customers to perfectly accessorize any ensemble.

The showcased designers include Gianfranco Ferre, Stizzoli, Dana Buchman, Misook, Lafayette 148, Basler, Yolanda Lorente, and Elena Miro. Some lines are found exclusively at Lisa Todd, Inc., including: Zonda Nellis, known internationally for her sophisticated, hand-woven separates and beautiful hand-painted velvets; Johnston Cashmeres of Scotland, makers of the finest cashmere sweaters and scarves; and Harari signature silks. Prices range from $28 for a t-shirt to as much as $5,000 for a special couture item.

“Our goal is to buy the kind of merchandise our clients can find in any fashion magazine, only proportioned a bit differently,” Shapiro explains. “We carry top fashion, and we don’t focus on weight. We give each woman the same fashion options as size 6, 8, or 10 in terms of selection and assortment. Plus, we provide the kind of personal service often missing from more mainstream stores.”

That personal service has become a cornerstone of Shapiro’s business.

When the first Lisa Todd store opened, customers would visit, have tea or coffee, and chat for a little while in addition to shopping. Today, it seems our lives are all busier, and customers are more likely to call ahead on their cell phones to ask that the store pull together some outfits they would like.

“We’ll do whatever it takes to keep our customers happy,” Shapiro says. “I’ve sent sales associates to customers’ homes to help them organize and clean out their closets. I’ve shipped products all over the world, some to clients I’ve never met who have heard about us through a friend or associate.”

Lisa Todd offers its customers personalized shopping, special orders of alternate colors and sizes, and shipping anywhere in the country. Clients who are too busy to visit the store can take advantage of the “Care Package” service, in which items are sent out on approval and the client can decide in the privacy of their own home which items to purchase and which to return.

Even the Lisa Todd name sets it apart from similar boutiques.

A combination of the first names of Shapiro and her brother, the moniker was a deliberate ploy to steer clear of names like Forgotten Woman, Plump and Pretty, and Big Beautiful You, all of which instantly connote plus sizes.

“One of my favorite comments, and I hear it over and over, is when small- and average-sized women walk into the store, not realizing that we cater exclusively to the plus-size shopper, and are disappointed to learn that we don’t have merchandise for them,” Shapiro says. “Everyone has preconceived ideas of what a plus-size woman can wear. But, at Lisa Todd, shoppers can buy that stretchy shirt they saw at the department store that was only in size 8. That’s what makes it fun. You can find the same look in a size 18.”

Looking at Shapiro (a size 6), it’s hard to imagine that she has a real grasp of the obstacles her customers face when purchasing large-sized clothing.

“Initially, some of the clients find it odd,” she admits. “But, as soon as I start asking them if they like what they see and if they’re having fun shopping the store, the size issue becomes irrelevant. They realize that I’m here for them, and they appreciate that.”

She also feels that being a size 6 allows her to buy with more flair than a size 16: “I’m buying with the eye of a misses-size shopper, and I want this woman to have all the same choices available to her that are available to me.”

It appears that Shapiro has struck a chord. Today, she operates three boutiques, which range in size from 3,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet. The Lisa Todd locations are recognized as the leading specialty stores in the country dedicated to catering to the well-heeled, plus-sized shopper.

Although all three stores are located in Florida, Shapiro has managed to cultivate a core group of loyal shoppers in areas as far flung as New York, Los Angeles, Argentina, London, and Italy. She’s convinced that the potential exists for an additional 10 to 15 stores, including several locations outside of Florida that can support the level of panache and price that have become Lisa Todd’s trademark.

(This article is reprinted from the Winter 2005 edition of Enterprising Women magazine. Copyright 2005 Enterprising Women Inc.  Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited, except by express permission of the publisher.)