How to Not Be Another Big & Tall Store: Talking to the Founder of 2tall.com

I always avoid every online clothing store labelled “Big & Tall” because I’m only tall – not big. Here, I’m talking to 2tall.com about serving a niche of Thin & Tall.

J.J. Warwick is the founder of 2tall.com – a clothing store built by tall guys, who know what it’s all about. Here, he’s giving us a little insight on what they do differently.

H

ere on Tallsome, I try to gather all the Tall Shops that I can recommend and that I think look interesting.  What I’m looking for is a good fit, a contemporary and nice design and at an affordable price. 2tall.com is just that from what I can tell. I got the chance to write a little back and forth with the founder of 2tall.com – J. J. Warwick. We talk about how 2tall.com came about, what they do and how the future looks for them and us as tall guys.

When you’re 7 foot tall and work in e-commerce – what do you do ? Create the UK’s only website that’s exclusively for tall men.

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So tell us how 2tall.com came about?

It was an idea I had in the back of my mind for years, as someone who was constantly frustrated in not being able to find clothes to fit.

And finding the few retailers who did sell tall clothing just didn’t understand what guys like me wanted. They were completely out of touch with reality both in terms of style and fit.

I have a background in e-commerce, having launched the UK’s first store for DJ’s back in 1999, so when I sold that business in 2011, I decided it was time put the two things I know about – online stores and being tall to good use, and started to turn 2tall.com from an idea into reality.

Who are your customers? Our average customer is 6’8”, wears 36w 38l jeans and a size 14 shoe. Unlike high street stores, who consider 6’2” tall, our customers start at about 6’6” and the tallest customer that i’m aware of is 7’4”.
We sell a lot of jeans and trousers to mums of tall teenagers who appreciate the fact that we start at a 32 waist, but the majority of our customers are in their 20’s and 30’s – customers that traditional big and tall stores simply don’t cater to.

We have customers from all over the world; a lot of basketball players in the UK, Europe and the USA; also rugby players, rowers, volleyball players etc.

Our customers are tall with either slim or athletic builds; so they like the fact that we’re a tall store – for guys like them – they wouldn’t be seen dead shopping somewhere that mainly caters for fat people.

And how are things going?

Great – we’ve beaten our whole first years sales in the first 6 months of year two, and sales are growing steadily as more and more customers find out about us.

Even though I did a lot of research before I launched the site, we made some mistakes  – but those first 18 months have really taught us what our customers want. We’re working hard to add to our range, and now that we have relationships with suppliers it means we can dictate what we want in terms of fit and style.
We won’t just take products because a company makes them, we want products that actually fit our customers, and if we can’t find them, we’ll look at developing them in-house.

As we grow, more and more brands are coming on board, but we’re still struggling with some companies who fail to understand that we’re a small company catering for a niche market. Big companies just aren’t very flexible, or good at understanding what we’re trying to do. That said – the situation is getting better.
What sort of feedback are you getting from customers? We keep getting calls and messages from guys just saying thanks for existing, and thanks for understanding.

They love the fact that we’re a business owned by tall guys, so when they call or email us – they’re talking to someone who’s just like them; someone who understands. There’s definitely a connection between tall guys.

Tall guys come in lots of different shapes and sizes. How do they know stuff will fit?

The best thing you can do is talk to us – tell us how tall you are and what you weigh – we will have other customers your size, and know what fits them best, so what will work for you.

When you call, you’ll talk to a fellow tall guy, rather than someone in a call centre; someone who knows what being tall’s like and can help you.
Customers like the fact that we offer next day delivery as standard, so they can get it quickly. And if once you get it, you don’t like it – it’s easy to return it for an exchange or refund.

What next for 2tall.com? We’ve got lots planned for 2015 – new brands coming on board throughout the year, and adding more products, starting with our own exclusive slim fit tall jeans arriving next week.
Andy is the guy who’s modelled all our jeans since we launched the site, and as a 6’10” student and basketball player, he’s very typical of our customers.

He’s currently helping out part time, but is going to be joining the business full time once he graduates in May.

We know we’ve still got a long way to go – we’re only an 18 month old business, but we’ll continue listening, continue to find the right products for our customers, and continue to fight for the needs of tall guys just like us.

And we’ll make sure we create the UK’s best site for tall guys.

Check 2tall.com out right here!