By Barbara Woller

WEST NYACK - It's said that to succeed in business an entrepreneur must find an unmet need and fill it.

Brothers Michael and Nicholas Kaplan said that's just what they're doing with Fashion to Figure, a specialty store for women's plus-size apparel that they opened in October at the Palisades Center in West Nyack. "I think the market opportunity is vast," Michael Kaplan said. "There's a need for this offering all across America."

Not only is there demand for plus-size clothes there is supply as well, with about 2,000 companies that manufacture clothes for larger women, he said.

"We thought it presented a great opportunity to sit in the middle as the retailer," Michael Kaplan said of his business, which is backed by professional investors.

Michael Kaplan is chief executive and Nicholas Kaplan is chief operating officer, but they call themselves "partners."

There is no Fashion to Figure "label." The store sells a variety of brands, such as Erika, Fashion Trend and Club-Z. The Kaplans say that makes it easier to find a fit because different manufacturers cut clothes different ways.

"Unlike some other retailers, we don't have a 'standard fit,' " Nicholas Kaplan said. "If you come here and we have 12 pairs of jeans, I guarantee you'll find a fit. Some may be shorter or longer but you'll find one that fits."

The brothers also said they customized the store with larger women in mind, offering amenities such as larger fitting rooms and chairs on the sales floor.

"A more established retailer might say 'you're sacrificing selling space,' " Nicholas Kaplan said. "But in our view we feel it is really critical to the customer experience to have a place to relax."

Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Trend Report, said it is important that plus-size women have more retailers to choose from."Plus-size clothing is an unserved and underserved market," Barnard said. "There are so many women who need plus sizes and not enough selection for them to pick from."

Dana Telsey, a retail analyst with Bear Stearns, also said more such stores are needed. "While many department stores do contain 'large-size' sections for women, they are otten relegated to understated parts of the floor space," she wrote in a March report.

Further, the nation is getting heavier.

Just over 51 percent of women were considered overweight between 1988 and 1994 compared to 62 percent in the 1999 to 2002 period, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

The sheer number of baby boomers is driving growth, too, said George Whalin, president and chief executive of Retail Management Consultants.

"As we get older, we get larger," Whalin said. "(Also) within that baby boom generation there are not just larger women, but women with money to spend."

Fashion to Figure sells clothes in sizes 14 to 26. Other plus-size apparel retailers are Charming Shoppes Inc., which sells under three distinct brands: Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug and Catherines Plus Sizes.

Montebello-based Dress Barn is in the plus-size market through its Dress Barn Woman stores. And some wholesalers have started new brands to target the segment, such as Elisabeth from Liz Claiborne.

The Kaplans are 30-something bachelors who live in Manhattan and describe their store as "a full-fashion oasis for women."

One recent afternoon the store beckoned customers with spring fashions in bright turquoise, yellow, green, and pink, as well as soft pastel shades. The merchandise includes casual separates, T-shirts, jeans, slacks and special occasion outfits.

"Denim is our No. 1 business but not far behind that is our tops business," Nicholas Kaplan said. The Miss Vigos and Revolt brands are among the denim jeans it sells.

Mindy Hernandez of Wesley Hills, a Fashion to Figure salesperson, herself wears plus-size clothes. The Kaplans prefer to call their salespeople "stylists" because they help customers coordinate outfits.

"I wasn't happy with the selections at other stores," Hernandez said in between helping customers. "Other full-figure stores were very limited - 'square' I call it - very boxy clothes for an older generation. These are more youthful 'fun 'clothes."

Customer Karen Nichson of the Bronx, at the store for the first time, said it is hard to find clothes in her size. She was looking for "something dressy" but her eyes also drifted over to the racks of colorful T-shirts. "The colors drew me in," she said.

Michael and Nicholas Kaplan say their interest in plus-size clothing is in their genes.

They are great-grandsons of Lena H. Bryant, the founder of the Lane Bryant chain, which started to make clothes for larger women more than a century ago.

The family has had no connection with Lane Bryant since it was sold in 1982 to The Limited, which sold it to Charming Shoppes in 2001.

The Kaplans say their great-grandmother's story has inspired them throughout their lives.

She was a widow in the late 19th century, and to make ends meet she pawned a pair of diamond earrings to get a sewing machine and started to make couture dresses for women in her neighorhood," Michael Kaplan said.

When a pregnant woman asked Bryant if she could make clothes for her, Bryant came up with the idea of an elastic waistband. Her second husband saw the business opportunity for special-size clothes and she was on her way.

Today, Michael and Nicholas Kaplan bring different but complementary knowledge to their business.

Michael Kaplan has a master's of business administration degree from the Harvard Business School and previously co-founded aIight.com, an online site for full-figured women that was bought by Charming Shoppes five years ago. He has also worked as a venture capitalist.

Nicholas Kaplan brings 17 years of experience in the retail industry. He was a co-founder and managing partner of The Designer Wearhouse, general merchandise manager at bluefly.com and a buyer at Saks Inc.

This is the first business venture together for the duo, who grew up in Manhattan and had a weekend home in Bedford.

The Fashion to Figure store at the Palisades Center will be the flagship for the chain the Kaplans hope to develop in the Northeast. Michael Kaplan said they are now in active negotiations in the tri-state area and "absolutely hope to have a store in Westchester."