As they tell it, when sisters Chris and Lucie Sholl started their clothing company B&Lu in 2000, plus-size women's fashion had two categories -- frumpy or pricey.

"Or a combination of both," Lucie Sholl said. "Even worse."

Now, women's plus-size clothing is a $32 billion industry crowded not only by Lane Bryant, but also by dozens of big-time retailers and smaller-time websites.

B&Lu -- one of the latter -- has withstood the onslaught. And despite the competition, the sisters feel their website is filling a niche.

Their clothes are fun rather than frumpy, inexpensive rather than pricey, they say. But they've gone further: "It's boutiquey style," Lucie Sholl said. "It's one-of-a-kind things you can't find anywhere, much less in a size 5X."

The designs are theirs, sometimes tweaked versions of styles they've seen elsewhere. Everything carries their label.

In B&Lu's nearly eight years, the sisters say, they have gone from "one order a day and we were happy" to bringing in almost $1 million annually.

They went from waitressing nightly to make ends meet to waitressing occasionally for fun; from running the business out of Chris' house in Maple Grove to buying a place for it in St. Paul.

Along the way, Chris and Lucie, who are not plus-size themselves, have learned what curvy women want, how they shop and what it means to find a great-fitting pair of jeans.

The Web, a better way

B&Lu began as Benina&Lu, a reference to the sisters' childhood nicknames for one another. The sisters wanted to use their backgrounds in marketing and advertising to start a family business. Plus-size fashion, then, was secondary -- an opportunity in the market.

Originally, they were thinking direct mail. But it took the cost of printing and sending just one catalogue to convince the sisters that the Web was a better way. Soon after, they realized that B&Lu was a bit easier to search and type.

Although the sisters dream of opening a boutique in St. Paul, being exclusively online has its advantages -- low overhead, plus convenience and privacy for their customers.

But there are disadvantages. "Some people, especially people that are plus-sized, want to go to a store and try on clothes and see how they look and fit," Lucie Sholl said.

B&Lu's models ease some of that concern. Most plus-size models are a size 10 or 12, "but we don't even sell clothes that size," Chris Sholl said. So the models featured on the site range from a 1X, size 14/16, to a 3X, size 22/24. And customers have noticed.

"I can't tell you how aggravating it can be trying to shop for clothes when all you have to go by is how it looks on a size 4," wrote Danielle, who lives in Arkansas, in an e-mail similar to many others the sisters have received. "I was so excited ... to find some beautiful REAL plus-sized women."

Katie Hall, who lives in Hudson, Wis., is one of those models. She has a degree in fashion design and manages at Lane Bryant. After reading about B&Lu, she contacted the Sholl sisters to offer help and expertise.

Plus-size women have more options than they did even five years ago, Hall said, but B&Lu still stands out.