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 Plus-size clothing is clothing proportioned specifically for people above the average clothing size. The application of the term varies from country to country, and according to which industry the person is involved in. According to ''PLUS Model' ...

Early life

Nancye Jo Bullard was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, and raised in

Cochran, Georgia Cochran is a city in Bleckley County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 5,026. The city is the county seat of Bleckley County. Cochran is named for Judge Arthur E. Cochran and was incorporated on March ...

, 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 A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

. Bullard attended but did not graduate from

Middle Georgia College Middle Georgia College (MGC) was a four-year state college unit of the University System of Georgia. On January 8, 2013, it was consolidated with Macon State College into a new institution, which is now known as Middle Georgia State University. T ...

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 The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

, to sell high-end designer clothing in larger women's sizes, including lingerie, accessories, jewelry, and shoes. "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". The chain extended to 25 shops across the United States by 1991, including locations in suburban

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

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and on

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. Her business counted celebrities including

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

among its clientele. In 1990, Savvy magazine ranked The Forgotten Woman among the top 60 American businesses owned and run by women. In 1991 Radmin stepped down as president of the company, and in 1993, she left the company. 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; she died in 2020, aged 82, in

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radmin, Nancye 1938 births 2020 deaths Businesspeople from Nashville, Tennessee American fashion businesspeople