B&Q = 10/10 ...Marks & Spencers = 1/10

Yesterday I attended an event run by Help the Aged described: “What Older People want and expect from the High Street". The companies providing speakers that caught the eye were Marks & Spencer, BT and B&Q.

Well it didn’t turn out as I expected. Firstly, the speakers (with one exception) either came from or talked about older consumers from the perspective of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Thus it was not about treating older people as consumers but as people that needed to be “included” not “excluded”.Something like the equivalent of a carbon neutral foot print for oldies.

The event was made worthwhile by the story that B&Q had to tell. Clearly this company means it when it says it takes older people seriously – both as customers and employees. Not only has B&Q discovered that it makes sound commercial sense to employ older staff but it is also worthwhile stocking and having products designed that match their requirements.The company has a new range of products that are soon to be released. I am sure I will talk about this venture some more.

The big disappointment was Marks & Spencer. I have a great deal of time for this company. Their advertising is brilliant; they have come close to capturing their old status as the UK’s best retailer. But, the speaker addressing this event gave a "bog standard" presentation about M&S as an environmentally concerned company. Either he was at the wrong event or decided to use the standard presentation and add a bit of ‘oldies’ customisation on the fly. It didn’t work - big time.

If companies agree to speak at an event, especially when people are paying good money to attend, they have a duty to take some account of the brief they are given.
BT didn’t have much to say. Help the Aged who ran the event are a nice bunch but do themselves no favours by the quality of the presentation material. Amateurish is being kind.

It was worthwhile attending to see a professional company like B&Q talk about their activities. Dick Stroud

The Forth & Towne market revisited

It looks like Ann Taylor (US clothes retailer) is attempting to have another go at the “Forth & Towne” segment that Gap gave up earlier this year.

Apparently in the second half of 2008 Ann Taylor will open a new chain of stores targeting women in their 40s and 50s: “the modern boomer category”.

No name (or at least one that has been released) for the stores but the company has the top man (and I mean man) in place to run the business. An interesting new retailing development to watch. Dick Stroud

Flying Brands swoops on over 50s for future growth

Flying Brands is a UK company valued at $130 Million. It’s declared focus is the 50-plus.

I am not sure what it tells us about this age group (or the part of age group this company focuses upon) but these are its brands:

Flying Flowers - postal flower service.
Cards For All Occasions - continuity greeting cards business.
Gardening Direct - top quality bedding plants.
Garden Bird Supplies - wild bird and garden animal feed.
Sarah Raven's Kitchen and Garden - unusual plants, gardening hardware and kitchen accessories.
Listen2 Audiobooks - nostalgic music and classic DVDs.
Benham - First day cover stamps, coins and other collectables.

Flowers, greeting cards, plants, pots and pans, stamps and audio books.

It looks to me that it is mining a rich vein of the 50-plus who are happy using the Web to shop. Dick Stroud

US Boomer retailer

Christopher & Banks (CBK) is all about female baby boomers, with three retail brands.

The Christopher & Banks brand is the flagship, positioned as a "missy moderate" concept. (target customer is 50 years old, with an average household income of $82,000)

The C.J. Banks brand is designed for the same customer, except she is a ‘plus’ size.

Acorn is a lifestyle-driven concept for more affluent boomers, with household income between $80,000 and $100,000.

This article in fool gives an excellent insight into how a US retailer is targeting the older market. If you are in the retail business it is a must read. Dick Stroud

Shopping at a Lifestyle Center

A reaction against the mega-malls and a return to calmer, smaller times seems to be the logic behind the ‘Lifestyle’ shopping centers that are appearing in the US.
AARP has an article about it in this month’s e-newsletter.

A company with the splendid name of Poag & McEwen operates six such centers across the US and reckons that 43% of its shoppers are over the age 45 years old.

Here are the microsites for a couple of the company’s developments The Promenade and The Avenue.

Apparently 10-12 such centres are built each year in the US. I am not sure how well this model would translate to Europe. We will see. Dick Stroud

The older German market

In Germany there are 82 million people of which 16 million are 65+ and 30 million are 50+.
Yesterday the BBC had an interesting story about some of the things going on to cater to this huge number of older people. Go to this link – and fast forward for 20 mins. Dick Stroud

Boomer Shoppers Today and Tomorrow: Following the Money

It sad that one is surprised when companies do things well.
Unilever USA recently issued a press release about research into Boomer shopping habits and how these are likely to develop in the next ten years. This looked to be interesting stuff.

I contacted the company’s press office and asked for a copy of the report. Much to my amazement I had a reply within a couple of hours from the Unilever’s PR company (Burson-Marsteller ) saying that they had already read my the blog posting and would send me a copy the report when it was available. True to their word a copy arrived.

So full marks to Unilever/Burson-Marsteller – that is how it should be done.
Most companies and their PR companies have not realized that there is a community of bloggers who can do a lot to promote their message. I would like a dollar for the number of times a company issues a press release, then never puts it onto their own web site, dosen't monitor what bloggers are saying about it and then fails to respond to e-mails.

Now to the report itself – it is excellent.

Unlike the vast majority of research that companies churn out with banal, motherhood conclusions, this report really adds something to our understanding of the 50-plus and how their shopping habits are likely to change.

I don’t agree with all of the conclusions but it is a significant contribution to the body of knowledge about Boomers/50-plus retail futures. Download it and read it! Dick Stroud

Not a good time for companies targeting the over-50s

Readers of this blog will know about the demise (‘rationalisation’) of Heyday. Last week Gap pulled the rug under Forth & Towne and now a UK company called Dream Direct is re-evaluating its future.

Dream Direct specialises in leisure and entertainment products targeted for the over 50s.

One of its companies sells DVDs. If you look on the Razamataz web site you will see that the featured DVD, called Downfall, costs £17.99. The price on Amazon.co.uk is £7.97 (No not £17.97)

You have to offer a lot of additional “over-50s” benefits to justify that price differential!

I hate seeing any companies have problems but the reasons are normally very simple and obvious. That applies as much (if not more so) to over-50s companies. Dick Stroud

Gap to Close Forth & Towne Stores

Gap has announced plans to close its Forth & Towne division, which catered to women ages 35 and older, saying it would instead focus on turning around the company's struggling flagship and Old Navy brands.

Forth & Towne was launched 18 months ago in New York and Chicago. Locations in Houston, Atlanta, Seattle and across California followed over the past year. The chain has 19 locations, and Forth & Towne President Gary Muto once said he planned to have 25 stores by the end of this year.

Gap said it will close its Forth & Towne stores by the end of June.

It is difficult to know what lessons to learn from this venture. Last year sales at Gap stores in North America, open at least a year, fell 9%, while at Old Navy that figure dropped 10%.

Gap has said that the problems with the main rump of the business are demanding their full attention. In addition, Forth & Towne was not "demonstrating enough potential" as a long-term investment.

"There's so much to fix in the core business," said a senior analyst with Forrester Research. "I think it would've been a management distraction to keep going with Forth & Towne."

So was it a bad idea – was it badly implemented – was it a sacrifice for the greater good of Gap. I guess we will never know.

You can read more about this in Forbes and Advertising Age. Dick Stroud