Nancye Radmin
{{Short description|American businesswoman (1938–2020)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Nancye Radmin
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| other_names =
| birth_name = Nancye Jo Bullard
| birth_date = August 4, 1938
| birth_place = Nashville, Tennessee, United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|12|8|1938|8|4}}
| death_place = Lakeland, Florida, United States
| occupation = Businesswoman
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Nancye Radmin (August 4, 1938 – December 8, 2020), born Nancye Jo Bullard, was an American businesswoman, owner of The Forgotten Woman, a national chain of shops for plus-size clothing.
Early life
Nancye Jo Bullard was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised in Cochran, Georgia, the daughter of Joe Dykes Bullard Jr. and Jane Johnson Bullard. Her parents had a peanut, pecan, and cotton farm; her mother was a registered nurse. Bullard attended but did not graduate from Middle Georgia College.{{Cite news|last=Meltzer|first=Marisa|date=2020-12-25|title=Nancye Radmin, Pioneer of Plus-Size Fashion, Is Dead at 82|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/25/fashion/nancye-radmin-dead.html|access-date=2021-01-17|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite journal|last=Feinberg|first=Samuel|date=October 10, 1990|title=From Where I Sit: Birth Pangs of a Large-Size Chain|url=|journal=WWD|volume=160|pages=31}}
Career
Bullard moved to New York City in the 1960s, and was a secretary before she married. In 1977, Radmin opened The Forgotten Woman boutique on the Upper East Side, to sell high-end designer clothing{{Cite journal|last=Feinberg|first=Samuel|date=October 12, 1990|title=From Where I Sit: Radmin Gaining Name Designers For Large Women|url=|journal=WWD|volume=160|pages=12}} in larger women's sizes,{{Cite news|last=Pauley|first=Gay|date=1981-03-16|title=Fashionable Fatties? Yes Ma'am|pages=19|work=The Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67862704/fashionable-fatties-yes-maamgay/|access-date=2021-01-17|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|last=Abraham|first=Molly|date=1982-04-22|title=Large Women Make Big Play for Fashion|pages=23|work=Detroit Free Press|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67861725/large-women-make-big-play-for/|access-date=2021-01-17|via=Newspapers.com}} including lingerie, accessories, jewelry, and shoes.{{Cite journal|last=|first=|date=May 8, 1990|title=Nancye Radmin to be Honored|url=|journal=WWD|volume=159|pages=125}} "They had all these myths that fat ladies don't buy expensive clothes", Radmin said in a 1988 interview. "Well, they do. And a lot of 'em".{{Cite web|last1=Johnson|first1=Bonnie|last2=Powell|first2=Lee|date=April 25, 1988|title=Nancye Radmin Hits It Big by Making Outsized Clothes Look in|url=https://people.com/archive/nancye-radmin-hits-it-big-by-making-outsized-clothes-look-in-vol-29-no-16/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-17|website=People|language=}} The chain extended to 25 shops across the United States by 1991,{{Cite web|date=1991-02-24|title=Big Women, Big Profits|url=https://www.newsweek.com/big-women-big-profits-205356|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-17|website=Newsweek|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Louie|first=Elaine|date=1991-03-24|title=Smiling In My Size 14|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/24/news/smiling-in-my-size-14.html|access-date=2021-01-21|issn=0362-4331}} including locations in suburban Detroit,{{Cite news|last=Muller|first=Joann|date=1990-09-06|title=Forgotten Fashion|pages=27|work=Detroit Free Press|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67862054/forgotten-fashionjoann-muller/|access-date=2021-01-17|via=Newspapers.com}} West Palm Beach{{Cite news|last=Grantham|first=Loretta|date=1991-03-07|title=Chic at Any Size|pages=224|work=The Palm Beach Post|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67856673/chic-at-any-sizeloretta-grantham/|access-date=2021-01-17|via=Newspapers.com}} and on Rodeo Drive.{{Cite news|last=Hagerty|first=James R.|date=2021-01-07|title=Entrepreneur Sold High Fashion in Plus Sizes at Forgotten Woman Stores|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/entrepreneur-sold-high-fashion-in-plus-sizes-at-forgotten-woman-stores-11610031600|access-date=2021-01-17|issn=0099-9660}} Her business counted celebrities including Oprah Winfrey among its clientele.{{Cite web|last=Turk|first=Rose-Marie|date=1989-12-29|title=Remembering Forgotten Women|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-29-vw-1217-story.html|access-date=2021-01-17|website=Los Angeles Times}} In 1990, Savvy magazine ranked The Forgotten Woman among the top 60 American businesses owned and run by women.{{Cite news|last=Burton|first=Katherine|date=1990-10-23|title=60 With Savvy|pages=313|work=Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67856926/60-with-savvykatherine-burton/|access-date=2021-01-17|via=Newspapers.com}}
In 1991 Radmin stepped down as president of the company,{{Cite journal|last=Ozzard|first=Janet|date=April 14, 1993|title=The Forgotten Woman Shapes Up|url=|journal=Women's Wear Daily|volume=165|page=12}} and in 1993, she left the company.{{Cite web|last=Moin|first=David|date=1997-08-22|title=The Forgotten Woman Set to Rekindle its Niche|url=https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/article-1120408/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-17|website=WWD|language=en-US}} The chain folded in 1998. Radmin also worked with Vogue Patterns on a line of plus-sized patterns.
Personal life
Nancye Jo Bullard, raised a Southern Baptist, converted to Judaism when she married widower Mack Radmin, a meat wholesaler, in 1968. She had two sons, Brett and William. She was widowed when Mack Radmin died in 2006;{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=December 28, 2006|title=Mack Radmin Obituary|url=https://www.legacy.com/amp/obituaries/nytimes/20445884|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-22|website=New York Times (via Legacy)|language=en}} she died in 2020, aged 82, in Lakeland, Florida.
References
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