Old Navy recently announced a new pricing policy. I’m Amy E. Feldman.
Old Navy recently announced that it will end its practice of charging more for women’s plus sized clothing than for regular women’s sizes. Many plus sized women had complained over the years that the pricing was discriminatory, especially given that the company didn’t charge more for men’s plus sizes. Was it? Hurtful, yes. Illegal? No.
There is no law that specifically prohibits clothing manufacturers from charging more for bigger sizes. As for the fact that the company didn’t charge more for men’s plus sizes, businesses are allowed to charge more for women’s versions of products if the differential is based on costs, difficulty, or time to produce. Given that there are over 200 million plus size women in North America alone, Old Navy’s new policy probably wasn’t based on fear of losing a lawsuit but fear of losing a big customer base, that of the big customer.
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