Self-employment

Entrepreneurs size up clothes for tall women

Taller is better for business

Paying attention to your own personal needs might just lead you to start a small business. "As a woman who is 6 feet and 2 inches tall, I always hated clothes shopping because nothing would fit my tall frame," entrepreneur Nancy Pehar says.

ROGER PIERCE,
[ 2007-05-30 ]

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Nancy Pehar sells clothes for tall women through her company, Long Legs Fashions.

Friends for the past 20 years, Pehar and partner Heather Dotchison own Long Legs Fashions (www.longlegs.ca), providing high-quality apparel for tall and long-legged women.

The company sells everything a tall woman wants, including casual wear, jeans, fashionable suits, tops, evening wear and maternity wear. Customers can find pants with inseams measuring 36 inches or greater and fashionable footwear from sizes 10 to 13.

Long Legs has a retail store in Port Credit, Ont., known as the "Village by the Lake." Their store address is 299 Lakeshore Rd. East in Mississauga. It also offers its unique products online through an e-store.

"We became entrepreneurs because there was no one providing tall women with quality apparel," Pehar says. "From our own personal shopping frustrations, we knew there was a demand for clothing in longer lengths."


Incorporated since January of 2004, Dotchison says their company has met with very positive customer response. "Tall women just can't get enough of our merchandise," she says.

"Our Long Legs Private Label clothes account for 80% of our store merchandise," Dotchison says. "It's designed in-house by us so it's 100% Canadian-made. Our pant inseams start at 36 inches, we've added inches to our sleeve lengths and adjusted pant waistlines."

The duo makes sure their tall customers get more than fashionable duds. Their entire store is designed with tall women in mind, including higher than usual countertops and shelving. "We also hung inspirational messages on the walls, such as 'Tall is Beautiful,'" Pehar says.

The company's success itself is very inspirational, as the partners will open a second Long Legs store in downtown Toronto this July.



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