Lane Bryant

Lane Bryant

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Retail
Founded	1901
Founder	Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin
Headquarters	Columbus, Ohio 40°02′37″N 82°54′53″W / 40.043622°N 82.914720°W / 40.043622; -82.914720, U.S.
Number of locations	700+ stores
Key people	Linda Heasley, CEO
Products	Clothing
Parent	The Limited Inc. (1982–1999) Ascena Retail Group (2012–present)
Website	www.lanebryant.com

Lane Bryant is a United States retail women's clothing store chain focusing on plus-size clothing. It began in 1904 with the innovative maternity designs created by Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin. As of 2013, the chain consists of 812 stores in 46 U.S. states (only Alaska, Hawaii, Montana and Wyoming do not have Lane Bryant stores).

Widowed at an early age, Lena Bryant supported herself and her young son as a dressmaker. Borrowing $300 for working capital from her brother-in-law, Bryant went to the bank to open an account. The bank officer misspelled her name on the application as Lane instead of Lena. In 1904, she rented a small storefront on Fifth Avenue with living quarters in the back for $12.50 a month. There she hung her garments from the gas fixtures, and opened the doors.

Asked by one of her pregnant customers to design something "presentable but comfortable" to wear in public, Bryant created a dress with an elasticized waistband and accordion-pleated skirt. This would be the first known commercially made maternity dress. This dress was welcomed not only by middle-class women, but by poorer pregnant women who had to work. The maternity dress soon became the best-selling garment in Bryant's shop.

When Bryant married Albert Malsin in 1909, he took charge of the business. He systematically began to develop and expand it. Albert instituted engineering exactness, and modern cost accounting and pricing. Sales had reached $50,000 a year by 1910. Albert was determined to steer the operation towards specialization. To produce in quantity and at lower cost he began to have dozens of dresses mechanically cut at once and employed high-speed sewing methods. Lane Bryant began supplying design pattern materials and financing for contractors.

Though Bryant came up with an innovative and commercially viable product, she had trouble getting the word out: Tradition dictated that topics like pregnancy were not discussed in the press. Her husband took on this challenge by convincing the New York Herald to accept advertising for their venture in 1911. When the paper did, the shop's entire stock sold out the next day.