retail profiles // classy // at last bra and lingerie

Square footage: 1,200
Location: Sacramento, CA
Year Opened: 2006


Q&A with Benita & Connis Kimball, key buyers


Ted Vayos, BODY: Describe your store.

Benita & Connis: At Last Bra and Lingerie, moved to a 1200 sq. ft. location to keep up with the changing needs of our demographic. We made a special effort in our new location to continue to make sure to provide our guests with a beautiful and safe environment to shop where they feel relaxed and comfortable. We provide a beautiful sitting area with a fireplace and TV where our guests can shop with their children, spouse or significant other. We have two professionally draped dressing rooms and a mastectomy fitting room for cancer survivors to buy bras, prostheses and other accessories. At Last Bra and Lingerie also provides a really nice backroom work area for their interns and other workers.

At Lasts Bra and Lingerie carry every day bras, fashion bras and sets, lingerie, camisoles, sleepwear, robes, bath accessories, bridal accessories, scarves and socks.


Ted: What makes your store special?

Benita & Connis: At Last Bra and Lingerie is set apart because of the guest services and the attention to details we provide. We want our customers to feel special and pampered no matter where they are on their journey of life. We pay strict attention to details and we listen, listen and listen some more to what our customers want and need. At Last Bra and Lingerie is more than a retail experience; we are here to meet the changing needs from puberty to maturity, and to top it off we add a cup of tea and some heartfelt laughter. That’s what makes us special.

Ted: What do you look for in a brand?

Benita & Connis: We buy what we think our customers will want, need or love. We learned long ago not to buy for ourselves because we like or love something our customers may not. We watch trends and fashions; we take into consideration colors that will work with our customers and their skin tones. We look for the best quality we can get. We understand women may sometimes wear a bra longer than she should. We understand as women, we are nurturers and put, in some cases, everyone else first. So the brands we carry should be comfortable beautiful, give a good fit and must, above all, be high quality. Our vendors are assigned to us but they are all top notches and know their brands well. The brands we carry are Curvy Kate, Panache, Le Mystere, Aviana, Breeze Comfort, Parfait, Affinitas, Amoena, Freya, Fantasie, Freya, Goddess, Dominique, Elila, LeMystique, Linda Hartman and Shirley of Hollywood to name a few.

Ted: What are the latest trends?

Benita & Connis: We believe in being up close and personal. Our women want to look and feel great and we help them to do just that. We help them find the correct bra size and the look for all occasions. We believe in “Supporting from the inside out” by empowering them to look their best.

Ted: Describe your price points and size ranges.

Benita & Connis: We carry bras and lingerie in various sizes, with band size 28 to 46 and cup sizes AA-O and we offer alterations for the in between sizes. Our lingerie sizes depending on the manufacture S-M-Land XL, some styles go to 4X. The typical price range for underwear is $15.99 to $40.00 and for our bras, they range from $50.00 to $100.00 depending on the size and style.

Our typical customer’s band size run the gamut from 30-50 band size, but the average cup size is a G cup, we call that golden, followed by H cup and we call it heavenly. These are cup sizes we find hard to keep in our store.

Ted: What does the average customer spend per visit to your store?

Benita & Connis: Our average customer spends $150.00 - $200.00 per visit.

Ted: Describe your customer.

Benita & Connis: Our shoppers are women and teens of all shapes and sizes, our customers ages range from 13 to 97with average age from 30 to 50 years. They come from all economic levels and we offer a variety of price points so that our guests don’t feel intimidated by higher priced offerings.

Ted: what else can you tell us about your business?

Benita & Connis: Breast size and shape change over time too- especially in your teens and twenties, during and after pregnancy and at menopause, and most of us gain and lose weight periodically.

We are committed to enhancing women’s health through continuing education by offering informational seminars and support groups on women’s health topics.

We know the right bra can greatly improve their shape. The clinical experience of our Fit Specialist training combined with our approved education program has increased our confidence, credentials and credibility. The master key fitting techniques inspires our customer’s confidence in our fittings. We received training in basic anatomy that prepared us to recognize how to fit bras correctly and how to recognize a poor fit.