Help! My Favorite Bra’s Been Discontinued… Now What?
September 01, 2010
Been there? I think every woman has at least once in her lifetime. One of the questions I’m most asked once I’ve been outed as being in the lingerie business is "Why did my favorite bra get discontinued?"
Generally, there are 5 reasons a bra style gets shelved.
1. Lackluster Sales – It’s simple economics. If the bra is not selling well, a manufacturer will stop making it.
2. A Major Department Store Stops Buying It – The lingerie industry is ruled by the major department store chains like Federated, Macy’s, Kohl’s Nordstroms, etc. Not all of them carry the same bra styles. In fact, they like to have styles exclusive to them, or ones that not all stores have. So, when one of these major chains decides not to carry the style for whatever reason, the manufacturer will discontinue it – regardless of other smaller stores and websites that might be selling the style well. Simply put, it’s the Big Gorilla symptom.
3. High Return Rate – If the bra style has a high return rate, neither the manufacturer or the retailer wants the style. This is one of the reasons that so few front closure bras are on the market. They have a high return rate because they don’t have enough adjustability like a back closure bra, so they get returned because they stretch out and women can’t make them tighter. Also, that front closure clip breaks and limits the support that can be created in the center of the bra.
4. No Longer Fits The Manufacturers Design Direction – I have seen fabulous selling designs be abruptly discontinued by a manufacturer. It’s crazy and makes no sense, but when asked, the manufacturer will say things like "It’s the only remaining piece in the collection" or "We are designing in a different direction" or "We want to make a new statement." Here are some examples. Olga bras (made by Warnaco) decided that they only wanted to make bras in C cup sizes and larger. They had several terrific styles in A and B cup sizes. But, they decided to let them go. To this day HerRoom gets inquiries from former Olga customers asking where their B cup sizes are. Chantelle is another company that discontinues great styles every year. It’s a little more understandable with this brand because they consider themselves very fashion forward, with European styling, so they want to have fresh new styles to offer each season.
5. Materials used for the bra can no longer be purchased – Most lingerie manufacturers are very specific on this point. If they can’t get the exact fabric or lace, they will discontinue the style rather than find an alternate fabric. Over the years, they have learned that if it isn’t exact, the customer knows and gets mad. It’s better to come back with a new style number using the new fabric than to risk trying to pull a switch on the customer. Wacoal is particularly sensitive to this. One of their best sellers had to be discontinued because the lace manufacturer changed the design just slightly. Because it wasn’t exact, Wacoal chose to lose sales rather than disappoint their customers.
So, knowing all this, what’s a girl to do when this happens? Allow me to put on my Super Hero cape and come to the rescue. For the last 5 years, I’ve asked my staff to figure out what style to recommend as a replacement once we hear that a bra is being discontinued. Not every discontinued bra has a close replacement, but when there is, we document it. We then put this information on our site. So, if you key in the manufacturer name and the style number of a discontinued bra style (or panty or shapewear style for that matter) into our search box, most of the time you will see the recommended replacement styles. As an example go to HerRoom and type this into the search box:
Warners 2015
First, we tell you that it was discontinued in August of 2008. This way you know it’s been gone for two years, so trying to hunt it down in any store will probably be futile. And then we give you similar styles that might be a replacement option for you.
Now, truth be told, you probably are not going to like the similar items because they are not EXACTLY like your old bra. But, my goal is to at least give you a starting point and make your search for your new favorite bra a little quicker and less painful. Let me know if you like this feature.
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Posted by Tomima at 10:53am
Tags: bra manufacturers, bra styles, brands, lingerie shopping
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First, both women feel they have somewhat sloping shoulders. And the straps on this bra do not fall off their shoulders. Now, there are a number of reasons why straps can fall off shoulders – your upper breasts are shallow and do not fill up the top of the cup, your band size is too big etc. The reason these straps stay on your shoulders is because they are located almost directly above the nipple. This is known in the trade as "center pull" or "cup centered" straps. The cups are also shaped more as a triangle which assists in keeping the straps centered and on your shoulders. 
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