Power Petites Challenge Retailers
June 22, 2006 — -- When department stores began pulling petite clothing from their shelves, a group of women waged a protest and effectively changed store policy.
Maury Rogoff is 5 feet 1 inch tall, and said she felt a bit short-changed this week when she went to Saks Fifth Avenue to spend, but couldn't find anything to fit her frame.
"I walked in and out of a department store in 2006 with money in my pocket and a credit card between my fingers and nothing in my hand," Maury Rogoff said. "That's a sin."
The department store recently got rid of its petites section, a decision Neiman Marcus is considering, while Bloomingdale's has cut back on its petite stock.
It's true the "average" American woman is 5-foot-4 and wears a size 14 but there are an estimated 45 million women under that height, and they think catering to small people ought to be a bigger deal.
According to Saks, petites weren't a bad business -- the retailer was just more interested in a younger, hipper customer and not the client buying the traditional suits found in petite departments.
But that leaves petites with nowhere to go.
"The minute department stores said they were going out of the business, I heard from all across the country from my customers saying 'what are you doing?'" said fashion designer Dana Buchman.
Rogoff said they may have small bodies, but they have a "big voice."
"Get the petites back in the stores, and we'll spend," she added.
And now, it appears, the petites have won a gigantic victory. Saks has announced it will reinstate its petite department in November.
"They put on their high heels and stamped their feet," said Mandi Norwood, editor in chief of Shop Etc. "I think the department stores have been absolutely gob-smacked by the power of the petites."
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