The great-grandsons of the legendary Lena Bryant, who pioneered the plus-sized market, have taken up the family business. Inspired by Bryant's entrepreneurial spirit and devotion to her clientele, Michael and Nicholas Kaplan in November 2004 opened Fashion To Figure, a store selling women's apparel sizes 14-26. The brothers, who are in their early 30s, never knew their great-grandmother. But they heard plenty of stories about her when they were growing up.

"Gram, which is how we refer to my great-grandmother, was famous for saying that you should never ask a woman to conform their figures to fashion, but rather bring fashion to the figure:' said Michael Kaplan, CEO, Fashion To Figure, New York City. "That was her passion, and we are carrying it on."

Kaplan has put a modern spin on Bryant's vision, providing large-sized women with a wide variety of fashion choices in a friendly, accessible environment. Located in The Palisades Center, West Nyack, N.Y., Fashion To Figure offers a wide and accessories. The prices are moderate, selection of work, play and casual clothing and accessories. The prices are moderate, with an average item price of $25 (the average transaction is $60). The merchandise is on trend and reflects the latest styles.

The store prides itself on providing a high level of personal service and fashion advice. It is decorated with photos of Kaplan's great-grandmother, her family and several of the first full-figure models used by Bryant. Her name is not cited because of potential legal concerns with the Lane Bryant chain. The Kaplan family ran the company for decades and sold it to The Limited in 1986. It has been owned by Charming Shoppes since 2001.

Kaplan developed the Fashion To Figure concept and crafted the business plan when he attended Harvard Business School. (Prior to that, he was with the venture capital firm RRE Ventures where he helped develop alight.com, an on-line store for plus-size shoppers.) Upon graduation, he set out raising money for the venture. His brother Nicholas came on board. He brought with him considerable retail expertise, having served as a buyer for Saks, Inc., general merchandise manager for the on-line fashion site bluefly.com, and a co-founder of The Designer Warehouse, an off-price retail chain.

Kaplan disdains titles, using them only when necessary. The way the responsibilities break down, however, he is the CEO and Nicholas is the COO. Both are very hands-on (there is also a third partner).

Unlike most other freestanding plus-sized formats, Fashion To Figure is not a private-brand or vertically integrated retailer. It shops the market and carries some 50 different labels.

"The plus-sized market has gone through lots of changes, and one of the biggest is that there are now hundreds of people making product for this customer," Kaplan said. "There is so much to choose from and there are so many plus-sized consumers who want more fashion. Why confine them to one brand? We aim to give customers as much choice as possible."

Besides setting it apart from the competition, the company's brand strategy works to its advantage in other ways.

"We can react much quicker to trends as they happen:' Kaplan said. ''We're not designing with storyboards months out and working on long lead times."

Fashion to Figure is close to finishing its first year. It is projected to gamer between $1 million and $1.5 million in sales its first year out.

"The store has been an overwhelming success, both in terms of customer feedback and financial results," Kaplan said.