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Michael Kaplan (MBA '02) had a great idea for a start-up: a fashionable
apparel company catering to plus-size women. But when an investor
pulled out before the first store opened, Kaplan realized he had
made a classic entrepreneurial mistake. He let his quest for perfection
get in the way of progress.
"We thought we could
find the perfect location, get the right costs, the right cotenants,
and the right demographics. You'd be surprised how hard it is to
line up those four factors," says Kaplan, who cofounded Fashion
To Figure in 2003 with his brother Nicholas. "It took nine
months to find the right location. That's two full merchandise seasons,
a significant delay, especially when someone has given you money
for an investment. The clock is ticking on their return."
Ultimately, the Kaplans
settled on a 3,500-square-foot shop in the Palisades Center mall
in West Nyack, New York, and opened the flagship store last October.
"We thought the plus-size market had evolved so much that every
single nuance had to be perfect," says Kaplan. In hindsight,
he learned that "start-ups are about speed to market. You get
in there and learn and react quickly."
Kaplan grew up immersed
in the plus-size retail world of the Lane Bryant chain, founded
over a century ago by his great-grandmother Lena H. Bryant and owned
and operated by his family until it was sold in the mid-1980s. Although
the Lane Bryant brand continues to thrive, the Kaplans saw a need
for more choice in color, styles, cut, and price. At Fashion To
Figure (named so because "Gram used to say you should never
ask women to conform their figures to fashion but rather bring fashion
to the figure"), the Kaplans emphasize a shopping experience
that includes spacious aisles, comfortable seating throughout the
store, sophisticated climate control because their customers "tend
to get warmer faster," larger dressing rooms and mirrors, and
a sales staff trained as stylists to help customers put together
outfits from more than 100 available brands and designers. "We
meet our customers' demand for fashion and heightened self-image,"
says Kaplan.
The investor who walked
away eventually came back to the table, a decision that appears
to be paying off. The flagship store broke even after five months,
and sales for the first year are projected to top $1 million. Kaplan
is already planning to open two more stores in the New York, New
Jersey, and Connecticut area, and he is optimistic about the prospect
of Fashion To Figure becoming a national chain.
Going forward, he's taking
the perfection lesson to heart. "I'm guilty of obsessing until
I get the right solution, and sometimes it's not possible,"
concedes Kaplan. "Giving money back to an investor was a scary
moment. Those were some sleepless nights, but it helped us to finally
pull the trigger. I think the biggest thing I've learned is that
it's not getting everything right as much as it's fixing the things
you get wrong - fast."
- Margie Kelley
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