Avenue Clothing is the value-tier plus-size brand most shoppers remember from a 2010s mall trip — and it is now an entirely different company than it was five years ago. Here is what the post-bankruptcy Avenue actually is, what it sells, and whether it deserves a slot in your rotation.
Avenue (sizes 14-32) is a DTC-only plus-size brand owned by FullBeauty Brands, the same parent company that owns Lane Bryant, Catherines, Roaman’s, and Woman Within. Tracking the brand for our Plus Size Contemporary readers since the 2021 relaunch, here is the honest read on what Avenue is good for, where it falls short, and how its sizing stacks against the brands sitting in the same value-tier neighborhood.
Avenue’s bankruptcy and relaunch — the context that matters
Avenue filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and closed every physical store. There are no Avenue retail locations operating today — if you remember the brand from a mall in 2018, that version of the company no longer exists. FullBeauty Brands acquired the assets and relaunched Avenue as a DTC-only operation in 2021. Anyone searching for an Avenue Clothing Store today is searching nostalgically.
What that history changes for the shopper: the catalog is narrower than the pre-2020 store assortment, the production runs are smaller, the customer service is now shared with the other FullBeauty brands, and the entire experience runs through avenue.com plus shared FullBeauty fulfillment in Indiana. None of that is necessarily bad — it does mean that a 2018 review of Avenue is essentially a review of a different company.
Where Avenue actually wins — basics at the value tier
Avenue’s pitch in 2024 is simple: plus-size basics at lower-than-Lane-Bryant prices. Typical price tier is $25-70 across the catalog, versus Lane Bryant’s $30-80 and Eloquii’s $60-200. That gap of roughly $10-20 per piece on basics is the entire reason to shop here.
The categories that actually deliver on the pricing promise: T-shirts, leggings, simple knit tops, basic woven dresses, denim at the $25-40 tier, plus-size workwear basics like ponte pants and sheath dresses, and seasonal layering pieces (cardigans, light jackets). If you are stocking up on the wear-three-times-a-week wardrobe foundation pieces, Avenue is genuinely competitive.
The denim assortment is small but priced well — a pull-on jegging that retails $30-40 at Avenue would cost $50+ at Lane Bryant and $80+ at Torrid. The fit will not match Lane Bryant’s denim consistency, but the price-per-pair math is honest.
Where Avenue falls short — anything trend or statement
The brand is not trying to compete on trend pieces, statement dresses, or fashion-forward cuts. The post-bankruptcy assortment is deliberately conservative and basics-heavy — that is the strategic choice, and it is the right one for the value tier. But it does mean that if you want a wedding-guest dress, a body-con piece for an event, or anything with a 2024-trend silhouette, Avenue will not have it. Look at Eloquii, Fashion to Figure, or Torrid for those moments.
Print quality on graphic and printed pieces is the second consistent issue in customer reviews. Photo prints can read flatter or duller in person than the product image suggests, especially on knit fabrics. Stick to solid-color basics or simple patterns and the catalog gets safer.
Fabric weight inconsistency is the third repeating note. Pieces that look identical in product photos can ship with noticeably different fabric weights — sometimes thinner than the previous version of the same SKU. This is the byproduct of value-tier production: you are getting whatever fabric supply was available at the price point. Reading the recent customer reviews per item is non-negotiable.
Avenue sizing — where it lands
Avenue runs sizes 14-32. The published size chart is similar to Lane Bryant’s at the equivalent number — an Avenue 18 and a Lane Bryant 18 should fit roughly the same body, give or take a half-inch at the hip. The complication is fit consistency: where Lane Bryant has tightened pattern grading over the past decade, Avenue’s post-relaunch pieces vary more between cuts. A T-shirt dress that fits perfectly at size 18 does not guarantee that the next dress in the same size will fit the same way.
Per-item user reviews are the most reliable sizing signal. Look for reviewers reporting their height, usual size in another plus-size brand, and what they did differently with Avenue. The brand’s own product reviews are open and honest — readers do call out when something runs small or large.
Compared to other plus-size brands at the same number: an Avenue 18 fits roughly like a Lane Bryant 18 (Avenue slightly more variable), a Torrid 2 (Torrid sometimes runs tighter at hip), an Eloquii 18 (Eloquii grades fuller at hip and bust), a Maurices 18W (similar at waist, sometimes tighter at thigh). Cross-referencing your body measurements rather than your size in another brand is the safer move.
Cross-brand position — Avenue inside the FullBeauty family
Avenue is one of four sister brands under FullBeauty: Lane Bryant (mid-tier, ~600 stores, the family’s flagship), Catherines (older customer aesthetic, mostly DTC after 2020 closures), Roaman’s (catalog-heritage, value-tier, broadest size range to 44W), and Woman Within (catalog-heritage, similar to Roaman’s). Avenue sits as the value-tier basics brand sibling to Lane Bryant.
The same item will sometimes appear at slightly different prices across the FullBeauty sister-brand sites — checking Roaman’s and Woman Within for an Avenue piece you like is worth the extra two minutes. The brands share fulfillment, customer service, and (often) pattern grading, so the production quality is similar even when the labels differ.
Outside the FullBeauty family, Avenue’s closest non-sister competitors are JustMyAble (similar value tier, online-only), King Size’s women’s line, and the basics ranges of department-store plus sections (Macy’s INC, JCPenney’s Worthington Plus). On a strict price-per-basics basis, Avenue is competitive with all of them; the FullBeauty fulfillment infrastructure is more reliable than smaller value-tier DTC brands.
Honest negative — customer service is shared and queue times show it
The customer service line at Avenue is the same FullBeauty line that handles Lane Bryant, Catherines, Roaman’s, and Woman Within. During sale events or peak shopping windows, the hold queues are noticeable — 10-25 minute waits are not unusual based on customer review patterns. The reps can transfer your call between brands if you ordered from the wrong site, which is genuinely useful, but the trade-off is queue depth.
If you can resolve your issue via email or web form instead, do — the typical response window is 1-3 business days and avoids the phone wait entirely. For Lane Bryant Customer Service context, the same backend serves both brands.
Avenue’s sale culture and pricing rhythm
Avenue runs sales constantly, and at the value tier the discounts compound quickly. The brand’s typical pricing already sits at $25-70; sale events drop those numbers to $15-50 effective price. Tracking the calendar, the deepest discounts hit at end-of-season clearance (late January and mid-July, mirroring the broader FullBeauty cadence) and during sitewide percentage-off events tied to Black Friday and the spring anniversary period.
The catch — and this is consistent across the FullBeauty family — is the Final Sale designation on the deepest-discount items. Most clearance pieces below 50% off are tagged Final Sale, which means non-returnable per the published return policy. The trap matters more at Avenue than at Lane Bryant because the value-tier price points are already low; the marginal discount on a $15 Final Sale T-shirt is not worth the no-return risk if the fit is wrong. Read the product page tag carefully before adding clearance items to cart.
Cross-shopping the FullBeauty sister brands during sale events is the underused move. The same item description on roamans.com, womanwithin.com, and avenue.com sometimes appears at meaningfully different prices during overlapping clearance windows. Two minutes of cross-checking can save real money on shared SKUs.
The verdict
Avenue is fine for plus-size basics at a value-tier price, especially if you are stocking wardrobe foundations like T-shirts, leggings, knit dresses, and simple woven pieces. The post-bankruptcy version of the brand is narrower in scope than what you may remember from 2018, and it is not trying to compete on trend pieces or statement dresses. For those, you’ll spend more at Lane Bryant, Eloquii, or Torrid — and you should.
Practical use: shop Avenue for the wear-weekly basics you would otherwise buy at Lane Bryant or Target’s plus section. Cross-check the same item at Roaman’s and Woman Within (sister brands, sometimes lower price). Read reviews per item before committing — fit consistency is the brand’s biggest weakness. Browse current Avenue inventory on Amazon: Avenue Plus Size on Amazon.
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FAQ
Is Avenue Clothing still in business?
Yes — as a DTC-only brand under FullBeauty Brands since the 2021 relaunch. Avenue filed bankruptcy in 2020 and closed all physical stores; the current Avenue is the FullBeauty-owned online-only operation at avenue.com. There are no Avenue Clothing Store retail locations operating in 2024.
Who owns Avenue now?
FullBeauty Brands, the same parent company that owns Lane Bryant, Catherines, Roaman’s, and Woman Within. Avenue is positioned as the value-tier sibling within the FullBeauty plus-size portfolio.
How does Avenue sizing compare to Lane Bryant sizing?
Roughly equivalent at the same number — an Avenue 18 and a Lane Bryant 18 should fit similar bodies, give or take a half-inch. The notable difference is consistency: Lane Bryant’s pattern grading is more standardized across categories, while Avenue’s varies more between cuts. Per-item review reading matters more at Avenue.
Where can I shop Avenue in person?
You can’t. Avenue has zero physical store locations in 2024 — all stores closed during the 2020 bankruptcy. The brand is DTC-only via avenue.com. The closest in-person plus-size shopping experience to what Avenue used to offer is Lane Bryant (sister brand, ~600 stores) or the in-store plus section at Macy’s.
What is Avenue’s return policy?
30 days from delivery for unworn items with tags attached, returnable by mail with prepaid label (cost varies). Final-sale items are non-returnable — check the tag before purchase. The window is shorter than Lane Bryant’s Lane Bryant Return Policy 60-day full-price window, so move faster on Avenue returns.
