New York-based multititle mailer Redcats USA is getting more intimate with the plus-size market. The company in February launched Intimate Promise, a catalog selling plus-size lingerie, sleepwear, and swimsuits.
The 72-page catalog includes more than 150 bra and intimate apparel SKUs, with 50 products exclusive to Intimate Promise. Although Christophe Gaigneux, executive vice president of Redcats USA’s special-size group, will not release the title’s circulation, he says that the catalog mailed to buyers from the company’s Roaman’s catalog, which also targets plus-size women, as well as to other Redcats USA customers and prospects. The company also e-mailed Roaman’s customers about the launch of Intimate Promise
Intimate Apparel carries some of the same brands featured in other Redcats USA titles, which include women’s apparel books Chadwick’s of Boston and Lerner and plus-size apparel catalog Lane Bryant. Prices range from $6.99 to $49.99, with most bras priced below $30. The company aims to do more than $10 million in sales via Intimate Promise in 2005.
Gaigneux says that Redcats USA developed the catalog because the company’s intimate apparel offering was not meeting the needs of the market. Research conducted in 2003 indicated that consumers were having difficulty finding “pretty and romantic clothing at a value price that was at the same time comfortable,” he explains. Although Redcats USA’s other plus-size titles sold undergarments, the items were more casual and functional than romantic.
Redcats USA anticipates mailing Intimate Promise six times a year. The company will feature select items from the catalog on the Roaman’s Website.
Redcats USA hired a new project manager and enlisted staff from other company titles to create Intimate Promise. Gaigneux says that the company will hire a dedicated staff once the title takes off.