Specialty Lingerie Retailer Takes Silver in the
$1 Million to $5 Million Retailer of the Year Sales Category

Photography - Carson Studios/Provided by Alabama Retail Association

BIRMINGHAM, AL – The Alabama Retail Association (ARA) in cooperation with the University of Alabama at Birmingham today recognized 12 outstanding Alabama retailers as “Retailers of the Year.”

The presentations were made at The Club in Birmingham during UAB’s 2008 Retail Day Luncheon. This marked the ninth presentation of the Retailer of the Year Awards since 1999. Janet Holcomb, owner of The Fitting Touch, a Vestavia Hills specialty lingerie store dedicated to fitting women with the proper bra size, received the Silver Award in the “Annual Sales $1 Million to $5 Million” category.

Karen Odle, executive director of the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce nominated Holcomb for this prestigious award. Best of Intima, a trade magazine based in France, ranks The Fitting Touch among the 25 Best Intimate Apparel Shops in the United States.

That ranking impresses suppliers and others in the intimate apparel industry, but what impressed the independent judges who chose the Retailers of the Year was increasing this niche store’s customer base by almost 5,000 customers in one year, a 57 percent jump.

The store also experienced double-digit sales growth and double-digit pre-tax profit. Why such success in a brutal retail market? “We strive to make each woman feel special not only on the outside, but on the inside as well,” said Holcomb. The city of Vestavia Hills also recognized Holcomb and The Fitting Touch as its 2007 Retailer of the Year.

The Alabama Retailer of the Year judges also commended Holcomb for her community service as vice president of community affairs for the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce and for the contributions the store has made to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a foundation dedicated to the fight against breast cancer.

“Janet is a great community supporter and is committed to making our community a better place to live,” Odle said in her nomination. Knowing that 85 percent of women wear the incorrect size bra, Holcomb opened her store in 2004 with a mission to change women’s appearance and self esteem by putting them in the right size bra. She and her staff accomplish that mission daily. “

Janet Holcomb is a retailer of the year EVERY year to her employees, the city of Vestavia Hills and the Birmingham metro area,” said Rick Brown, president of the Alabama Retail Association.