Retailer Removes the Plus...to Make Room for More Plus?

There will be no plus size sections at Meijer anymore. Instead, the retailer will include sizes 14 and up in its women's department. Straight and extended sizes will finally live together in harmony.

“We really felt all customers should have the exact same experience at Meijer,” Annette Repasch, vice president, Softlines, told The Wall Street Journal. “Not only by style, but by price and by location.”

The size integration will be rolled out to all 230 stores by early 2017. offering sizes ranging from small to XXXL. But this isn't exactly a budget-saving move. Clothing manufactures charge retailers more for plus-size clothing because it requires more materials and more labor. “We aren’t getting any special prices from our vendors,” says Repasch. “We are averaging it out and internally taking those costs.” If you have to spend money to make money, this could be the right move for Meijer.