A Worcester-based specialty lingerie and intimates boutique is expanding east.
The Bra Shop is preparing to open its second location at 22 Church Street in Wellesley, bringing its fitting-focused experience to the western suburbs of Boston. The new shop is expected to open in early November 2026, according to founder Stephanie Ramey.
Ramey told What Now Boston that the expansion grew out of the demand she’s seen at the Worcester location, which opened in 2021 toward the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Customers regularly travel an hour or more to visit the boutique, she said, and the Wellesley location will make the shop more accessible to customers in the MetroWest and Greater Boston.
“What we’ve noticed in Worcester is that a lot of our customers are traveling from an hour, hour and a half away, sort of in all directions,” Ramey said. “We saw this as a really great opportunity to be part of a very cute downtown area and be a little bit more accessible to our customers in the MetroWest area, Greater Boston.”
The Bra Shop specializes in professional, education-first fittings, with roughly 150 sizes available across its assortment. The boutique carries bras, bralettes, lingerie, panties, shapewear, sleepwear, loungewear, and giftable items, with band sizes ranging from 30 to 48 and cup sizes from A to O.
The Wellesley location will offer fittings by appointment, although walk-ins will also be welcome. Ramey said customers can expect the same focus on personalized service, along with a curated selection of lingerie, loungewear, sleepwear, and other pieces.
“We specialize in the art of proper fittings,” Ramey said. “At the heart of everything that we do, it goes back to having properly trained fitters and education and time.”
The new shop will also have a few design details of its own. Ramey said the space will include four fitting rooms and The Bra Shop’s signature pink ceiling. While it will be smaller than the Worcester location, the Wellesley shop has ample storage space to accommodate its extensive range of sizes and shapes.
“It’s a beautiful space,” Ramey said. “It’s one of those spaces that you kind of walk in and you just feel calm. Very elegant, very pretty.”
For Ramey, the focus on fitting goes beyond helping customers find a comfortable bra. She said many shoppers arrive believing there is something wrong with their bodies when they simply haven’t had access to proper fitting education or styles suited to their shape.
“80 to 90% of women that come into our store just feel off,” she said. “And they feel like there’s something wrong with them or their bodies when truly they just haven’t had access to how a bra should fit properly and to the proper styles and sizes for their unique shape.”
That educational approach has also helped make the Worcester boutique a multigenerational destination, with mothers bringing their daughters and, in some cases, their own mothers along for fittings.
In partnership with the United Way of Central Massachusetts, the company recently launched Project Uplift in Worcester, a community initiative providing qualifying girls with a complimentary bra and sports bra. Ramey said the initiative grew from concerns about adolescent girls dropping out of sports at higher rates than boys and the role that confidence, body image, and access to supportive sports bras can play.
The Wellesley opening is part of a larger vision for The Bra Shop. Ramey previously told the Worcester Business Journal that she hopes to eventually expand to six to 10 locations throughout Massachusetts, and potentially beyond.
“I think that’s sort of the dream and the vision,” Ramey said. “I think that there’s a need, not just in our area, but everywhere for bra fitting education. I think it’s sort of a lost art… We wear bras every single day, and so many of us just kind of tolerate and accept subpar or pain or all of these things. It’s just so unnecessary.”
With the Wellesley storefront now taking shape, she hopes to bring The Bra Shop’s focus on fit, comfort, and education to a new group of customers.
“It’s pretty amazing how simple and how significant a difference a well-fitting bra can make,” Ramey said. “We look forward to bringing that to Wellesley and hopefully seeing a similar reach that we do in Worcester.”
