STORES Magazine - June 2008 - (Page 26) EXECUTIVE SUITE / COVER STORY BY SUSAN REDA, EXECUTIVE EDITOR T hink of a few famous baby boomers. Now, call to mind a few that you know. It’s probably safe to assume that none of the images that popped into your head resemble a generic brown paper bag. Yet marketers and retailers are too often guilty of treating baby boomers as a homogeneous group with uniform attitudes and purchasing behaviors. Ironically, what they end up with is a pitch that is as generic – and disposable – as a plain brown bag. As a group, the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 is much too large and diverse to share a single lifestyle, life stage, purchasing proclivity or political agenda. And most of them are too wealthy to be ignored by marketers and retailers obsessed by youth. “Boomers still dominate the U.S. retail marketplace,” says Matt Thornhill, president and co-founder of the Boomer Project and co-author (with John Martin) of “Boomer Consumer.” Boomers spend an estimated $2.3 trillion on consumer goods and services annually, yet Thornhill claims that “few retailers 26 STORES / JUNE 2008 fully appreciate today’s older boomer consumer, instead merchandising and marketing to young, less affluent adults. Retailers that fail to acknowledge boomers today — thinking they’re past their spending prime — are limiting their success.” In other words, those who think they know all there is to know about the baby boomer generation need to think again. STORES partnered with the Boomer Project and BIGresearch to determine the five things retailers need to know about baby boomers. BIGresearch supplied reams of data; the Boomer Project provided the insight. Here, STORES offers some food for thought. WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - June 2008 STORES Magazine - June 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Tesco Tests Carbon Labels What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Cover Story: Boom - or Bust Green Retailing Concept2Watch Online Marketing Building Traffic Water Management Branding Digital Marketing Loyalty Programs Special Report: Taking on Teens Supply Chain - Robo Crop Human Resources Supply Chain - Directory Assistance Loeb Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh STORES Magazine - June 2008 STORES Magazine - June 2008 - STORES Magazine - June 2008 (Page Cover1) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - STORES Magazine - June 2008 (Page Cover2) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - STORES Magazine - June 2008 (Page 3) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Contents (Page 4) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Contents (Page 5) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Contents (Page 6) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Contents (Page 7) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Executive Editor's Page (Page 8) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Executive Editor's Page (Page 9) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - President's Page (Page 10) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - President's Page (Page 11) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Tesco Tests Carbon Labels (Page 12) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - What Shoppers Think (Page 13) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - What Shoppers Think (Page 14) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - What Shoppers Think (Page 15) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - What Shoppers Think (Page 16) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - What Shoppers Think (Page 17) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - 10 Things You May Have Missed (Page 18) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - 10 Things You May Have Missed (Page 19) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Numbers Worth Counting (Page 20) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Numbers Worth Counting (Page 21) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Full Price/Markdown (Page 22) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Full Price/Markdown (Page 23) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Retail People (Page 24) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Retail People (Page 25) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Cover Story: Boom - or Bust (Page 26) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Cover Story: Boom - or Bust (Page 27) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Cover Story: Boom - or Bust (Page 28) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Cover Story: Boom - or Bust (Page 29) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Green Retailing (Page 30) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Green Retailing (Page 31) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Green Retailing (Page 32) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Green Retailing (Page 33) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Green Retailing (Page 34) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Green Retailing (Page 35) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Concept2Watch (Page 36) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Concept2Watch (Page 37) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Online Marketing (Page 38) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Online Marketing (Page 39) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Building Traffic (Page 40) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Building Traffic (Page 41) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Water Management (Page 42) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Water Management (Page 43) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Branding (Page 44) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Branding (Page 45) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Digital Marketing (Page 46) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Digital Marketing (Page 47) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Loyalty Programs (Page 48) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Loyalty Programs (Page 49) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Loyalty Programs (Page 50) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Special Report: Taking on Teens (Page 51) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Special Report: Taking on Teens (Page T2) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Special Report: Taking on Teens (Page T3) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Special Report: Taking on Teens (Page T4) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Special Report: Taking on Teens (Page T5) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Special Report: Taking on Teens (Page T6) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Special Report: Taking on Teens (Page T7) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Special Report: Taking on Teens (Page T8) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Special Report: Taking on Teens (Page T9) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Special Report: Taking on Teens (Page T10) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Special Report: Taking on Teens (Page T11) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Special Report: Taking on Teens (Page T12) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Supply Chain - Robo Crop (Page 63) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Supply Chain - Robo Crop (Page 64) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Supply Chain - Robo Crop (Page 65) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Human Resources (Page 66) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Human Resources (Page 67) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Human Resources (Page 68) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Human Resources (Page 69) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Supply Chain - Directory Assistance (Page 70) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Supply Chain - Directory Assistance (Page 71) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Supply Chain - Directory Assistance (Page 72) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Supply Chain - Directory Assistance (Page 73) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Loeb Retail Letter (Page 74) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Loeb Retail Letter (Page 75) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Arts Update (Page 76) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Arts Update (Page 77) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Point of View (Page 78) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Point of View (Page 79) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - NRF News (Page 80) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - NRF News (Page 81) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Retail Crossword (Page 82) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Retail Crossword (Page 83) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Retail Crossword (Page 84) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Retail Industry Calendar (Page 85) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Last Laugh (Page 86) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Last Laugh (Page Cover3) STORES Magazine - June 2008 - Last Laugh (Page Cover4)
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