First plus-size-only consignment store in Massachusetts opens!

Plus-size consignment stores - sorely needed!   I've been in many consignment shops, and the first size that's gone?  The one I need!  LOL.  I gave up trying. I would have loved to have a place to consign all of my old clothing, and to find new-to-me threads!  I would love to know the the clothes were going to someone who really needed them, especially for our rapidly shrinking community!  Kudos to these ladies for starting up this business.

From:  The Patriot Ledger, 8/2009

The Shrinking Closet in  Avon, which opened  Saturday, Aug. 1,  is the first  consignment store in  Massachusetts to sell  exclusively plus-size women’s  fashions, size 12 to 34. The  business is owned by Diane  Lobel of Randolph and Donna  Lucier of Weymouth.

“Before opening the store, I  Googled ‘plus size consignment’  and found six or seven stores in  the United States and Canada,”  Lucier said. “Some of them have  grown into 10,000-square-foot  warehouse-size stores. But none  of them are on the East coast.”

Two thirds of the U.S. population is overweight or  obese, so there’s definitely a need  for plus-size consignment. And  when you consider the needs of  people who are losing weight rapidly after gastric bypass or lap- band surgery, the demand is even  greater, said Lobel, speaking  from personal experience.

Lobel has lost 50 pounds since  her lap-band surgery in January.  That’s the good news.

The bad news is that she had  to replace her wardrobe several  times as she dropped three sizes,  spending more than $1,000 in  six months. Most department  stores and consignment shops  don’t carry the largest plus  sizes, 28  to 34, she said, so she had to pay  top dollar at specialty shops or  order from plus-size catalogs.

“There was nothing for me to  buy in consignment shops,”  Lobel said. “Either the sizes  were too small or the clothing  was too fancy. I didn’t want to  buy a party dress. I wanted  office attire and T-shirts,  sweaters and nightgowns.”