FAIRFIELD, Ohio – Twice a week, Crystal Wanek wheels out a rack of clothes, wears her biggest smile, and puts the small consignment shop in Fairfield, Ohio on an ever-growing stage.
What started as a way for Just Her Size consignment to move some of its excess inventory helped launch the business onto an international market, proving plus-size resale was in high demand and the store had a lot of growing to do to meet it.
According to a study at the International Journal of Fashion, Design, Technology and Education, the average American woman is between a size 16 and 18. For most brands, that’s in the plus-size range.
While, in recent years, there’s been a shift toward greater production of more plus-size clothing, there remain a few gaps in the market. The clothing tends to be in limited stock, costlier than straight-size garments, or produced through lower-quality fast-fashion brands.
Wanek sorts through inventory. (Spectrum News 1/ Michelle Alfini)
As a consignment store catering to only sizes 14 and up, Just Her Size seeks to fill part of that gap, offering trendy options on the resale market that are affordable and friendlier to the environment.
“It serves a community that is so underserved,” Wanek said. “The clothes get a second or even a third or a fourth life.”
Wanek currently serves as the face of the store. She started in 2020, after consigning at Just Her Size for a few years, and now runs much of the in-person retail operations and hosts the biweekly live auctions.
It started in 2021 after the store started traveling to consignors and picking up their inventory, putting more on their shelves than ever before. Wanek and the owner decided a few Facebook lives allowing followers to see and buy the products through social media would move inventory more quickly and boost engagement online.
“I remember our first live, I think we were happy that we had 50 people on,” Wanek said.
From there, the lives spread through shares and word of mouth, and suddenly, Just Her Size was hearing from customers they never expected.
“We literally have people that tune in from all over the world,” she said. “We’ve shipped to Australia and the UK and Canada.”
Now to serve that growing and diverse audience, Just Her Size is working to expand their capacity to take in consignments through mail, offering virtual unboxing services for transparency with remote consignors. The store will also continue to deliver anywhere and is setting up a more traditional, constantly updating online retail store to augment their biweekly lives.
“We want to make sure that ladies everywhere have access to really great pieces,” Wanek said.
Wanek hosts a biweekly Facebook Live. (Spectrum News 1/ Michelle Alfini)
The expansion strategy was built in collaboration with some of the store’s long-time local customers, like Lauren Dunbar, who has been working closely with Wanek and the owner, Jonathan Fisher, to help the store meet demand and plan out for the future.
“I really think it’s engaging where the market is and meeting the customer where they’re at to fill those needs of empowerment and confidence in the women that we serve,” she said.
For Dunbar, it’s a way to pay the business forward for the joy she’s gotten out of shopping there and being a friend of the store.
“It’s a place for people to feel confident and understood,” she said.
As a former consignor herself, Wanek agrees that what Just Her Size offers is about far more than clothes.
“What you put on your body is a direct reflection of how you feel. When you look good, you feel good and that’s the way that you end up projecting yourself to the world,” she said. “We all want to be happy, confident people.”
Besides the digital launch, Just Her Size is also strategizing to expand its brick-and-mortar footprint. The store hopes to have one or two more storefronts open within the next few years.
