True Jeans, Expanding the Jean Pool

"The NEXT LITTLE THING"

In the February, 2006 issue of Fortune Small Business Magazine, True Jeans was selected as 1 of 6 companies from around the country to be selected as the Next Little Thing.

EXPANDING THE JEAN POOL

by Elaine Pofeldt, FSB Senior Editor

February 3, 2006

A startup aims to help frustrated shoppers find off-the-rack blue jeans that actually fit.

A grueling shopping trip with his wife inspired Romney Evans, 28, to start a new online retailer that will help shoppers track down the jeans that fit them best.  "Christina was practically in tears trying to find a pair that would fit," recalls Evans. 

So the MBA candidate at Babson College teamed up with classmate Jessica Arredondo, 27, to create True Jeans.  This spring the Wellesley, Mass., startup expects to begin selling 15 nationally known brands that retail from $50 to $200. 

Relying on a licensed search technology, the firm will give each style it sells a "fit rank," calculated by comparing a customer's measurements with the specs of each line of jeans.  The challenge: making sure True Jeans' specs always match the manufacturers'.  Says Patti Freeman Evans, a retail analyst with Jupiter Research in New York: "If they can do that, then this is a new and great idea."

NOTE: True Jeans' article in Fortune Small Business magazine was also featured on CNN.com's homepage.  The response from this article has been overwhelmingly positive.  You can view the article on MONEY / CNN's website.