Now that's bad marketing!

[elfs]

What the frak were the marketing geniuses at "Dress Barn" thinking? If you're going to create a clothing store for large women, what the Hell leads you to conclude "Let's call it 'Dress Barn!' That's where cows and sows whirl the night away. See, it's funny!"

A small, cynical, depressed corner of my brain contemplates the idea that the name was actually arrived at through A/B testing, and large women actually responded to the farm animal metaphor better than any other name the marketers created.

Comments

[scyllacat.livejournal.com]

Dress Barn is for large women? I was afraid it was full of calico and gingham, so I never knew. :D

[omahas.livejournal.com]

Um, Elf, the Dress Barn is for professional women of all sizes, from petite on up.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Hmm. The one at Southcenter appears to be going for the large women market: the mannequins are the London Andrews (http://elfs.livejournal.com/1343109.html) model (link probably NSFW) and the banners read "For all women up to size 24."

I think that's aimed at a clientele from the opposite end of the spectrum from the starving waifs at Abercombie and Fitch.

[hydrolagus.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure your link is right.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

How the Hell did that happen? This is where it was supposed to go:

http://londonandrews.blogspot.com/2011/01/ransom-is-doing-workshop.html

[sianmink.livejournal.com]

That's it I'm gonna open a clothing store called, I dunno, Circus Tent or something. It'll be all festive.

You can name a men's clothing store 'Big&Tall' But try to do something like that with a women's store and you're going to get set on fire.

[alicephilippa.livejournal.com]

We have Long Tall Sally aimed at tall girls.

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

See, that name sounds better to me. At least it means the person is attractive, if a tad slatternly. But no matter what size one is, "Dress Barn" implies someone with a serious weight problem. Or a complete hick.

[bldrnrpdx.livejournal.com]

The dress barn at my nearest mall might have "sizes for everyone", but they're predominantly for the larger ladies. Not that this means I can shop there - apparently all larger women who shop for clothing are tall too. I still lose. The salesscarecrows (very few larger women actually work there) have told me the company carries shorter styles online, but there's no way I'm buying stuff without trying it on first, so I still lose.

[tamino.livejournal.com]

There used to be an excellent local chain of drug stores here called Drug Barn. They unfortunately went out of business. So I guess you could make the argument that their name contributed to that...

I never saw it that way, though. I didn't feel like I was being compared to a farm animal; the "barn" just signified a more informal, less organized, less marketed approach to selling necessities. Which I'll take over slick, homogenized, and brand-aware any day.

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

I always wondered about that name. o-o