Lane Bryant Back in Catalog Biz

Charming Shoppes announced in January that it would be discontinuing its Lane Bryant Woman catalog after a little more than a year in the mail.

Now Charming Shoppes, which has owned and operated the Lane Bryant plus-size women’s apparel stores since 2001, just announced  that it's launched a new retail fashion catalog.

The 34-page catalog dropped March 6 though 9 to more than 3 million Lane Bryant retail customers; the company plans to circulate a new retail catalog once a month.

What’s the difference between the old catalog and the new title? It’s hard to say. The new titles targets the same plus-size (14-28) demographic as the Lane Bryant Woman catalog, says Charming Shoppes spokesperson Gayle Coolick.

The catalog sprang from a 16-page magalog that had mailed to the same 3 million customer base for the past three or four years. "There was a tremendous reaction to the magalogs," Coolick says. "The magalog was an effective marketing tool and was expanded it to this new Lane Bryant catalog."
 
She says the company has been "desirous" of a lifestyle brand. The target audience is 35-55, a "lifestyle shopper" interested in high quality and high fashion. "We're focused on a tremendous fashion offering," she says.

Along with the new catalog, Lane Bryant has nearly 800 brick-and-mortar stores and a Website. In addition to Lane Bryant, Charming Shoppes includes the Fashion Bug and Catherines retail apparel chains.