Posted onMay 29, 2025|Comments Off on I LOVE THE MOVIES!!!
The smell of buttered popcorn, the cool sensation of frosty Pepsi in my mouth, and an afternoon of escape into a new and exciting world, this is what the movies meant to me. As a kid, I spent endless hours on these magical, plush red seats.
For years, cinemas were our first and most affordable choice for entertainment. Movies were the anchor for some of the best retail in the United States, aping the days when we went downtown for all our entertainment, be it a shopping trip, a movie, a delicious dinner at our favorite restaurant or maybe even a play. While many of us are not old enough to remember those days, they are certainly the model for modern entertainment districts.
Not surprisingly, the Pandemic, streaming, and other technology that allows entertainment and games in the palm of our hands have significantly affected the cinema industry. The North American Box Office Gross (NABOG) in 2023 and 2024 was between $8.5-$9.0 Billion, a drop from the Pre-Pandemic era of $11-$12 billion or approximately 70%. But even before the pandemic, NABOG was not growing, but hovering, as shown below:
Source: BoxOfficeMojo.com by IMDbPro and JB Research Company
In the last 40 years, 1984-2024, compound annual growth rate of cinema revenue has been 2.8%, while the population of the U. S. has increased only 1.0% on the same basis. As a reference, the North American Amusement and Theme Park gross revenue increased at a rate of 5.0% per annum in the past 26 years. Remember, inflation has been 2.6% in the past 26 years, so the real rate of growth is 2.4% for Amusement and Theme Parks. Adjusted for inflation (2.6% for the past 40 yrs.), cinemas revenue has been fairly stagnant in the period. This is a somewhat disappointing point of view.
What are a few of the reasons for stagnation, even prior to the Pandemic:
Technology, including television even before streaming became available to all.
Shifts in consumer behavior and preferences
Shifting Demographics, including the aging of the U. S. population
The availability of quality film product and again, preferences of the moving going public
Over screening
With all of this disappointing news, there are some bright spots on the horizon. First, theaters are seeking to change the business model. While almost half of cinema revenue still comes from ticket sales, other revenue streams are growing. Some new points of differentiation include:
The availability of premium large format screens
Enhanced seating
Enhanced Food and Beverage, including the highly profitable sale of alcoholic beverages
Adoption of theaters as public assembly facilities offering opportunities for live events, gaming, sports, opera, kids movies and other programming.
I grew up going to the movies as a special treat. In my heart, I hope that theaters can evolve with the times and remain as sparkling, special places where one can lose oneself in a special environment for a few hours. Lord knows we need these safe escapes in our very chaotic world!
Posted onJanuary 27, 2025|Comments Off on Exploring Boomer Spending Trends: Insights for Marketers
Unlocking the Spending Power of Boomers
Americans are a diverse group, and their spending reflects it beautifully. Look at the picture above and the chart below and you will discover that Boomers spend the lowest of overall per capita, but they rival Millennials in their entertainment spending. Yet when you casually observe advertising in any format, digital or print, you rarely see a senior enjoying themselves on an adventure tour, or on an expensive trip to a theme park. Doesn’t make sense!
The percentage of global population by demographic cohort and estimated spending shows a similar situation:
Generation
Share of population (2024)
Global spending (2024)
Gen Alpha
19.5%
10.6%
Gen Z
24.6%
17.1%
Millennials
22.9%
22.5%
Gen X
18.3%
23.5%
Baby Boomers
12.1%
20.8%
Greatest and Silent Generation
2.6%
5.5%
Understanding these percentages assists in understanding the social and economic impacts that each generation has on our industry.
When comparing the population percentages with spending percentages, the following observations can be made:
Baby Boomers: Although they make up 12.1% of the population, their spending represents 20.8%, highlighting their substantial economic influence.
Millennials: Represent 22.5% of the population and their spending is almost the same.
Gen X: Consist of 18.3% of the population but account for 23.5% of spending. This generation shows a higher spending power relative to their population size.
These comparisons reveal that while some generations may have a smaller population size, their economic impact through spending can be disproportionately large, reflecting their purchasing power and consumption patterns.
Boomers, despite being the lowest in overall per capita spending, rival Millennials in entertainment expenditures. They enjoy expensive vacations, gifts for family, and trips abroad, highlighting their substantial economic influence in the entertainment sector.
How often do you see an ad for anyone over 65 doing anything but taking drugs? But they have money and spend money on expensive vacations, gifts for their family, and trips abroad.
If you are concerned about your return on investment and you are in the entertainment field, why aren’t you pitching to this group? Just common sense, don’t you agree?
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Posted onJanuary 12, 2025|Comments Off on Reviving Community – New Trends in Location Based Entertainment
Now more than ever, we need places for people to congregate and connect. With every lifestyle, regional, and community center showing big empty spaces from tenants that have gone dark (due to Covid-related loss) or just bad management and strategy, innovation is the key to rebranding and renewed Covid has been catastrophic for business with major shutdowns and the explosion of e-commerce.
But some things can’t be replaced, and I believe will never be replaced, such as the need for connection and communal gathering places. The isolation and emancipation screens bring for young and old elicits a more urgent need for human contact. As good designers, developers and owners, we can provide interesting, exciting and innovative experiences, and we can bring visitors back to our shopping centers.
The genres of new concepts are as old as the shopping centers themselves and as new as technology will allow. Here are some of the notable Location Based Entertainment (LBE’s) we think are reinventing the genres.
Eataly
Eataly is the delicious Italian gourmet food market/food court on steroids, with 10 locationsin the United States, including New York and Los Angeles.
Eataly is a global operator in Italian food, offering a concept combining high-end Italian food restaurant with retail.
Eataly’s business model was built around the “eat-shop-learn” concept, offering consumers globally a selection of high-quality Italian restaurants and retail experiences with an overwhelming variety of the finest Italian local “specialties” often impossible to buy abroad.
Eataly operates 27 directly operated flagship stores (14 in Italy, 10 in North America and 3 in Europe) and 26 franchised stores located in the Asia Pacific countries and Middle Eastern region, generating revenues of over €800 million globally (including franchise store sales). This indicates average store sales of £15 million per location.
Eatertainment and Sports
I hate the word Eatertainment, but it has become common in our lexicon. The concept involves combining eating and drinking with fun, sports and games. Anything from baseball to golf to bowling to curling (yes, curling!) are tapped to be themes for these venues, which fit nicely into a retail or mixed-use project.
The first class includes many new restaurants which offer simulators for popular sports such as golf and Formula 1 car racing. Top Golf is the most popular sports themed venue with the highest number of units and top grossing sales per unit of the new sports/food/beverage concepts. This concept combines golf simulators and games with food and beverage. The company offers more than 100 plus units with total sales of almost $1.8 billion, average sales per unit of $17-$18 million on newer units sized at approximately 65,000 square feet. Gross margins are known to be about 40%, indicating an EBDITA of $6.8 million. With an industry standard payback of four years, this indicates a warranted investment of more than $27 million, or $415 per square foot. This is the most proven and mature business model of the sports/food & beverage models.
Other models include:
F1 Arcade is based on iconic Formula One racetracks and is offered in Boston, Washington DC, Las Vegas and London. Featuring craft cocktails and seafood, Kobe beef, and bar fare with an upscale theme, the venue allows entrance to customers from 7 years of age and older. The Boston unit is approximately 16,000 square feet. Kindred Concepts, the parent company, recently raised $130 million in financing for expansion.
Camp Pickle is scheduled to debut in Denver and Tulsa in 2025. This new attraction will be like an old-time summer camp, the kind your grandparents attended. Of course, Pickle Ball is the theme, and food beverage and other activities are offered.
Spin is a concept created by Susan Sarandon in New York in 2009, themed on competitive ping pong. With locations in New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington DC, the menu provides farm to table, locally sourced food. Units range in size from 4,000-12,000 square feet, fitting nicely into a shopping center configuration.
SixesSocial Cricket offers competition in a sport that many Americans know nothing about… Cricket, with karaoke offered as backup! The food is said to be excellent, featuring typical bar-fare. Bookings include an adjoining table for food and beverage. The first U.S. unit is in Dallas at the Colony.
Goodsurf is an 8,000 square foot sports restaurant based on surf simulator technology that allows waves to be created by machines, taking much less space than a typical wave pool. Food offerings include burgers, fries, vegetarian options, and ice cream for the kids. The first location is in Dallas.
Flight Club is a high-tech dart simulation game with seven units located in the United States in Las Vegas, Denver, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Boston, and Chicago. The food offerings are gourmet versions of flat breads, tacos, salads and fries. The newest unit is in Denver at 10,000 square feet, close to Coors Field and the Ball Arena.
Culture
My favorite in this category is Meow Wolf, which began in 2008 as a collective of anarchic artists in Santa Fe (NM). It offers interactive installations, each with a different theme. The attraction offers six locations including Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Houston, Washington, and Denver. Each location has a different immersive art theme with hundreds of storytellers from throughout the world and local artists’ features.
The newest and largest store is located in Denver and features more than 70 immersive attractions in 90,000 square feet. (The Houston location is only 32,000 square feet.) Convergence Station, as it is called, is a multiversal travel experience between four alien worlds, inspired by the location near two freeway overpasses.
The newest store is scheduled to open in 2026 and is in final lease negotiations that will bring a Meow Wolf exhibition to West Los Angeles. The location is a vacant movie theater complex. The theme will be cinema. Meow Wolf’s move into its largest market yet is intended as a statement piece, a declaration that weirdness and art-focused ventures still have a place in an immersive economy that’s been racked by closures and layoffs, Meow Wolf included.
In April, Meow Wolf announced it would cut 165 employees. Exhibitions in Denver and Las Vegas were heavily affected.
General admission is $40 for adults and $35 for children and passes are available. The business model is based on buying/leasing low value properties in subsidy rich locales.
Destruction LBE’s
Can we talk about Las Vegas, the lab for all new location-based entertainment? How about Dig This, with an admission price of almost $205? This is a wrecking lot with real earth-moving machines, caterpillar D5Ks, bulldozers, and mini excavators. With instructions being the first step, a neon yellow vest and a hard hat are provided with in-cab training. Then, you get turned loose to wreck real things like a car! This is about the most male-oriented attraction of those researched!
Adventure and Technology Driven Formats
Location based virtual reality is a whole world unto itself with a following that includes mostly young boys and men. But the industry is making a Location Based-Social interaction with games to engage the consumer in a community experience. Some of the themes include war, exploration, and adventure. Research shows that female consumers are loving some of these group games, those that don’t require you to keep a body count!
(Now maybe I’m old-fashioned, but explain this to me. A whole bunch of your friends put things over their eyes where they can’t see each other nor speak to each other, nor touch each other. These are group games that seem to me to be a totally weird way to connect. Just this consultant’s opinion, but I think we have lost our way in terms of entertainment value and the sense of connection that is required to be human!)
Still, one concept is killing it!
Sandbox VR is a location-based concept out of the UK and Ireland, with two locations in the UK (one in London, one in Birmingham), and 31in the United States. Of these, seven are in California, one in Chandler (AZ) and another in Mall of America (MN). The average spend is £37 in the UK and $55 in the United States. The UK locations earn between $1.9-$2.6 million, with an EBITDA of 35%. Capital expenditure on the equipment ranges from $500,000-$750,000. Buildout of the average 5,000-6,000 sqft location ranges from $1.5-$3.0 million, cost of which is borne by the lease and/or can be negotiated with the landlord. The games are story driven and can change constantly. Collaborations with Netflix and Paramount are planned to provide content.
At the writing of this blog, Sandbox VR launched a game based on Netflix’s Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon.” This experience has players “gear up with their fellow rebels for battle against the ruthless forces of the Motherworld’s military,” per the game’s description. “Inspired by the vision of legendary director Zack Snyder, players become members of the resistance and are transported to the planet of Daggus, descending through skyscrapers, streets, and a subterranean mine while they defeat enemy soldiers and spacecraft.”
With the development of operating economics reported, this is one of the first VR experiences to complete a “proof of concept” and earn economic industry-standard return.
Intellectual Properties
My favorite location-based entertainment center based on an IP is the Crayola Experience. This format is based on (what else) the iconic Crayola Brand, with the flagship attraction in Easton (PA), where the factory and headquarters are located. At 65,000 square feet, and with lots of colorful activities to do, the attraction boasts an adult/child entry fee of $26.99. Other locations include Chandler (AZ), Bloomington (MN), Orlando (FL), and Plano (TX). Activities offered are very creative such as the Activities Studio, The Cartoon Creator, and the Adventure Lab.
In 2022, the brand began a licensing concept. The growth strategy presented in 2022 includes extending the location-based entertainment footprint domestically and internationally. “We are now looking to develop licensing partnerships that bring new capital and expertise to accelerate our LBE expansion, particularly internationally where local market access and expertise are important,” said Victoria Lozano, Executive Vice President Digital Strategy, GM Attractions & Retail for Crayola.
The first Crayola Experience opened 25 years ago as The Crayola Factory in Easton (PA). Crayola saw an opportunity in LBE and in 2013 reimagined the downtown attraction as Crayola Experience. The company also owns and operates Crayola Experiences in Orlando (FL), at the Mall of America in Bloomington (MN), in Plano (TX), and in Chandler (AZ). With venues ranging from 20,000-60,000 square feet, Crayola Experience engages more than 1.5 million kids and adults annually in activities inspired by/and incorporating proprietary Crayola products and technologies.
Crayola is continuing to develop creative concepts that will help scale its events and exhibitions LBE business. Early this year, Crayola debuted IdeaWorks at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute, a traveling exhibition encouraging families to explore innovation, invention and design thinking. The company also collaborated with OceanX, a global ocean exploration nonprofit, on a national takeover tour of the Crayola Experience venues that began this summer and runs through summer 2022.
Other notable concepts of IP-based LBE’s include the LEGO Discovery Centers, branded popup retail locations with characters such as Barbie and Peppa Pig. Today, studios and other IP owners are monetizing their brands by creating places where their properties can be owned or licensed out to the LBE owner. One great example is MONOPOLY LIFESIZED, created by Habro (self-explanatory), and Sony has opened a division to license its intellectual properties for developers.
Other retail pop-ups with a brand LBE include Hello Kitty pop-up cafes, the Rolling Stones pop-ups, and the Barbie branded sales areas at Selfridges in London.
Conclusion
Most of the examples presented must continue proof of concept and financial goals. We hope many will stand the test of time and blossom to enrich our industry!
What are your favorites? Let us know, we always love your input and experiences!
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Summer is a time for fun, for vacation, for surfside romps, for visits to the county fair, for baseball games, for seeing friends and drinking wine. This summer was both the same and also very different. While I did all of these things, I did it with family, my big noisy crazy, dysfunctional family including husband, kids, grandkids, sibling and of course in-laws and extended family. But we didn’t go to some exotic island where the summer sun shines 20 hours a day, nor did we jet off to African for a Safari (which is still on my bucket list). This summer was the beautiful California locales, all close by. The summer turned out to be the “summer of love”.
Family vacations evoke all sorts of images, like group cooking in an always beautiful Italianate kitchen, grandparents playing with tiny humans who may look like them, sisters romping on the front lawn doing cartwheels, kids fighting and hitting each other, and many secrets which are best left unshared. But at the bottom of all these images is the reality of spending time with the only people who provide unconditional love, who look like you, who know what you have been through because they have been through it too.
This year was especially memorable for me because my tiny doppelgangers, my grandkids, were old enough to be out of their parents arms, and become their own little people, able to play and love independently.
And because I have rewired my brain, and practiced becoming my best self, I was able to be there and enjoy these precious moments.
It all seems so simple, so natural, so “yeah, of course that’s what happens”, but in fact this is something extremely difficult, requires hard work and is entirely new to me.
Posted onJuly 2, 2023|Comments Off on Losing My Paper Babies
Today I did something I have never done before, and I will never do again. I have been procrastinating doing this for a long time. It seemed odious and frightening to me, and if I didn’t do it, no one would notice, die, be hurt or be sad.
Nonetheless, I did it this morning.
I trashed my whole body of work, more than 30 years of consulting, contained in more than 375 reports, all done to the best of my ability and always with care, meticulous research and anxiety. These were my babies, birthed with an insecurity most don’t understand. No matter how good my previous study was or how much praise I was given, I always felt I was starting over with each new assignment. Yes, complete impostor syndrome! Never resolved…
My library of work was a literal library, sitting proudly on shelves in my office. Anyone who walked into my office could see the results of the past 30 years of my professional life. As time went on and the body of past work became more prolific, I needed to box up some and put them on shelves in the garage. But I always kept the most current ones, perhaps those from the past 36 months close to my chair and close to my heart. I could pluck one off the shelf any time I wanted!
About 10 years ago the magic of digitization happened and my prized body of work became an icon in a folder that when clicked, disclosed the craziness of technology. Presto, the fruit of my effort materialized on a screen. I could store them, send them to clients, keep them in a new kind of library…a digital library! Those that weren’t able to be digitized were painstakingly scanned by my fabulous assistant Erica who didn’t mind doing it. (It would have driven me mad!)
I was very scared that I would miss something, or that the cloud would burst, or that the internet would break! Especially knowing that the “cloud” is really a huge roomful of very heavy computers that could be taken out by the Russians any time they wanted (which didn’t help my anxiety). I liken it to a fire that, incidentally, could also have engulfed my paper reports and wiped out my entire body of work.
I asked my adult kids and I asked my assistant, “Do I need these anymore?” only to be answered with a resounding chorus of “No!” So it was decided. I had to throw out my babies! But first I needed to understand if all the reports had a corresponding PDF icon in my digitized library. Not so easy to do, since there were 375 reports to check and four versions of the library databases, three of them in excel and one a list of the digitized PDF reports. It took 4 weeks to do and involved Erica’s and Charley’s help.
That task completed, I decided again (with my husband’s help) which jobs were special enough to keep as “mementos,” which were my most important assignments, and which got developed into now beautiful, successful, thriving, operating projects. My adult babies! There were about fifteen of these, so we made a list and pulled the paper copies. But then I looked over my excel list and saw so many more that were memorable, and I expanded the list. I now have about fifty reports I want to keep in their physical format. I found most of them but had a few left to find.
Easy peasy, but not so fast…
This morning came. The handyman was coming at 11 to fix a few things and to haul off the boxes of reports I was taking to be shredded and donated to the dump. I furiously began looking through boxes to find the last few I had not found before. Yet as I was doing this, I could not believe what I discovered. My body of work, my 40 years in the business, is very impressive. It was the first step in the development of some pretty imaginative, ground-breaking, singular kind of entertainment, cultural and retail real estate developments. 80,000 hours of work, give or take, and I had something to show for the effort! (This of course harkens back to my fundamental insecurity, and my constant feeling that I’m only as good as my last job.)
When I first had kids, I had a sort of overall goal – that I raise children who would make the world a better place than when they emerged. But going through my reports today, and throwing out some of my paper babies, I discovered I too have made the world a better place… and I am damn proud of it!
Posted onApril 27, 2021|Comments Off on The Best Job I Ever Had
Yesterday on the ABC television network, the entire day was devoted to programming of the Academy Awards. This is always one of the most coveted days of the year for me, having grown up in the entertainment business and living in Beverly Hills. I love the stories and the glitz and glamour. The dresses!! The hair, the make-up, the shoes!
This year is especially exciting since the Academy Museum is opening, honoring the legend and legacy of Hollywood films. I am completely humbled and honored to have conducted the market and financial feasibility study for the museum, as it underwent many twists and turns on its road to being born. This is a re-blog of an article I wrote in 2018 and I think it is appropriate today.
“About 16 years ago, I got a call from a perspective client, a newly hired director from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, asking if I would be interested in conducting some market research for a new attraction/museum themed on the Academy Awards. Would I?!?! I had been the one lucky enough to do the work for the Dolby Theater at Hollywood & Highland where the ceremony takes place, so it seemed a good fit and logical that I continue on to do the museum feasibility. But my joy, my heart, for Hollywood, no one knew that! My family had always been in the entertainment business, with my father tangentially involved on the business side, having been a pioneer in the cable television industry. And my aunt was always working for this or that movie star as an executive assistant. I was lucky enough to visit the backlot of 20th Century Fox before it was Century City! I spent countless hours watching movies being filmed, then sitting in theaters watching them roll by me on the big screen.
Would I be interested? Heck, yea!!
Since that time, I have been the consultant called upon to do the background market research, analysis and financial projections for the site selection, sizing and operation of museum. I learned a thing or two during those years. I gained a deep knowledge of large museums and what keeps them thriving; I learned how an endowment can shrink during a deflation; I learned that money earmarked to never-be-touched has a way of disappearing in hard times. And I learned about the conundrum of keeping things fresh so that resident visitors will keep returning time and again. I am thankful that my job always changes and that I always learn, no matter the engagement.
Over the years, we have wrestled with all the issues associated with new development including disagreements about what it should look like, what its mission should be, where it should be sited, who is its targeted audience (please don’t say everyone!), and what’s the best way to keep the project on-time and on-budget. To be clear, these issues are complex and are made more difficult when there are many masters to serve. Still, when the project is to reflect the points of view, hopes, dreams, and legacies of America’s most important cultural export, cinema, careful consideration must be given to each one. “
Posted onMay 25, 2017|Comments Off on THE POWER OF GLOBAL GENDER PARITY
I am just back from ICSC. Besides much discussion of the demise or denial of the demise of bricks and mortar shopping opportunities, I saw a presentation about this “Gender Parity” study completed by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). Take a look!
Click Picture to Download Report
“Narrowing the global gender gap in work would not only be equitable in the broadest sense but could double the contribution of women to global GDP growth between 2014 and 2025. Delivering that impact, however, will require tackling gender equality in society.
“MGI has mapped 15 gender equality indicators for 95 countries and finds that 40 of them have high or extremely high levels of gender inequality on at least half of the indicators. The indicators fall into four categories: equality in work, essential services and enablers of economic opportunity, legal protection and political voice, and physical security and autonomy. We consider a “full-potential” scenario in which women participate in the economy identically to men, and find that it would add up to $28 trillion, or 26 percent, to annual global GDP in 2025 compared with a business-as-usual scenario. This impact is roughly equivalent to the size of the combined US and Chinese economies today. We also analyzed an alternative “best-in-region” scenario in which all countries match the rate of improvement of the best-performing country in their region. This would add as much as $12 trillion in annual 2025 GDP, equivalent in size to the current GDP of Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined, or twice the likely growth in global GDP contributed by female workers between 2014 and 2025 in a business-as-usual scenario.
“Both advanced and developing countries stand to gain. In 46 of the 95 countries analyzed, the best in-region outcome could increase annual GDP in 2025 by more than 10 percent over the business as-usual case, with the highest relative boost in India and Latin America.
“MGI’s new Gender Parity Score, or GPS, measures the distance each country has traveled toward gender parity, which is set at 1.00. The regional GPS is lowest in South Asia (excluding India) at 0.44 and highest in North America and Oceania at 0.74. Using the GPS, MGI has established a strong link between gender equality in society, attitudes and beliefs about the role of women, and gender equality in work. The latter is not achievable without the former two elements. We found virtually no countries with high gender equality in society but low gender equality in work. Economic development enables countries to close gender gaps, but progress in four areas in particular— education level, financial and digital inclusion, legal protection, and unpaid care work—could help accelerate progress.
“MGI has identified ten “impact zones” (issue-region combinations) where effective action would move more than 75 percent of women affected by gender inequality globally closer to parity. The global impact zones are blocked economic potential, time spent in unpaid care work, fewer legal rights, political underrepresentation, and violence against women, globally pervasive issues. The regional impact zones are low labor-force participation in quality jobs, low maternal and reproductive health, unequal education levels, financial and digital exclusion, and girl-child vulnerability, concentrated in certain regions of the world.
“Six types of intervention are necessary to bridge the gender gap: financial incentives and support; technology and infrastructure; the creation of economic opportunity; capability building; advocacy and shaping attitudes; and laws, policies, and regulations. We identify some 75 potential interventions that could be evaluated and tailored to suit the social and economic context of each impact zone and country.
“Tackling gender inequality will require change within businesses as well as new coalitions. The private sector will need to play a more active role in concert with governments and non-governmental organizations—and companies could benefit both directly and indirectly by taking action.”
Posted onApril 20, 2015|Comments Off on WHICH GENERATION TO TARGET?
We are all fans of the newest consumers to come of age, the Millennials. These young adults, who are now aged 19 to 33 and number almost 70 million, are the darlings of the marketing world. But in their rush to capture the hearts and minds of these young consumers, who are now forming their first real households, many brands are forgetting about the other generations.
To help our colleagues drive sales to adults in various life stages, we created an easy chart to start the conversation. A discussion of these groups is like teenage sex: everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it.
Each generation has a special way it likes to be approached, and each responds differently to messaging. For example, Boomers still shop in department stores, although certainly not as much as when the oldest boomers, now 69, were kids. Gen Y rarely shops in department stores unless it is one of the “cool” ones, which include Nordstrom’s or Barney’s. Or when they are shopping for their parents’ Christmas gifts, so they can be easily returned to a convenient location.
In terms of amount spend per visit to the mall and department store, the 45-54 age group cuts across two generations, Gen X and Baby Boomers. Department store spending, however, is highest among Boomers, while all other spending is highest again across Gen Y and Boomers. Teenagers visit the mall most frequently, but understandably, do not spend much per visit.
In terms of wealth, an interesting analysis indicates that Gen X, a sector largely ignored by great brands, is a real contender when it comes to income, net worth and wealth. The difference between income and wealth is that income is what you earn every year, and wealth is the totality of your assets minus your liabilities. According to the United States Department of the Census Current Population Survey, net worth and total income is as follows in 2013:
In terms of net wealth, Baby Boomers hold the highest percentage of net worth dollars at 34% and the highest share of total income dollars, at 39%. The second highest is held by Gen –X at 29% of net worth dollars and 31% of total income dollars. Millennials hold 21% of net worth, and about 18% of total income dollars. Again, markets with the most money are Boomers and Gen-X. But that is because Gen Y is young, and on their way to being the consumer heavyweight in the next 20 years.
Some salient characteristics of each of the largest buying generations, Boomers and Gen-X include the following:
. Gen- Xers have money! They make up 25 % of all adults, but hold 29% of all net worth and 31% of all annual income earned. Half of them want to provide for their kids’ college, and almost all want to save for retirement. Two thirds plan on traveling for pleasure in the next year, and half will buy one or more luxuries.
· Boomers on the other hand, buy things for themselves and their grandkids. They are omnichannel and know their way around the Internet of Things. They expect hype in their advertising because they invented it (Mad Men, anyone?) They are early adopters of smart medical devices and are very critical about experiential retail, again because they invented it.
While we’re at it, here are some characteristic of Gen Y and Gen Z. Gen Y is completely omnichannel, and have said that they will pay for responsible products, although this has not yet been proven in the market. They will be early adopters of smart wearables, especially sport gear such as watches. They want a seamless shopping experience and they DO NOT WANT HYPE. Because of all the information thrown at them by their various smart devises, they want their lives simplified, so they have invented “curated” everything from experiences, to vacations, to cooking, shopping, to putting together furniture, to decluttering their lives. Think YouTube, Yelp, H&M and Zara (fast fashion), shopping sites, and Pinterest. Because there are so many of them, and because they are just starting to become a force as couples, they are the generation that will take over next.
Gen Z is a whole other puzzle. They are not old enough to have much money of their own, but they will in the next ten years. They are overscheduled, but they are completely omnichanneled, cutting across every platform of technology. They are extremely entrepreneurial and want to be heard. They also want to try out products before they buy. In order to appeal to them now, you have to continually innovate and evolve digitally because they live on their devices.
The world is complicated today and is becoming more complicated as we evolve and innovate with our shopping methods and choices. The Internet of Things, such as magic RFID tags, augmented reality, delivery drones, curated experiences, wearable technology and life hacking are among the many new experiences we must excel at and then change our products and communication as they change. It is a brave new world!
Posted onJanuary 9, 2015|Comments Off on Entertainment Evolution Experience
Happy New Year Friends!
I can’t believe so much time has passed since I last wrote. We have been very busy and had a lovely holiday. Hope all is well with you and your family.
We are reminding you to come and join us at an exceptional conference “Entertainment Evolution Experience” to be held February 18th and 19th at LA Live! in Los Angeles. I will be speaking on a panel entitled, “Open Air Projects – Pushing the Envelope,” where we will discuss, among other things, the need for human contact and fresh air!
We would be thrilled to see you there!
Here are the details:
Shopping Center Business and InterFace Conference Group are pleased to highlight the following panel for the Entertainment Experience Evolution Conference, February 18-19, 2015 at LA Live in Los Angeles. The multi-day conference will focus on what developers, owners, restaurants, retailers, cinemas, designers and entertainment venues are doing to evolve the consumer experience and create vibrant places to spend time.
Featured Panel:
Open Air Projects –
Pushing the Envelope
Arguably the most active type of multi-tenant retail, open-air centers have grown beyond service retail to become true community environments. Find out how amenities, restaurants, landscaping, hardscaping, and placemaking are changing open-air retail. See case studies from developers and architects on the transformation of open-air centers, from regional lifestyle centers to power centers to small community centers.
Posted onJune 25, 2010|Comments Off on Understanding Your Market – By the Numbers
Analyzing demographics and psychographics is an incredibly useful tool to assist in every aspect of feasibility testing, new product development, and simple site selection. The process used to be cumbersome, and not for sissies! But since the advent of MapPoint, almost anyone can do a simple version of a demographic exercise.
The Beneficial Business Features of MapPoint:
MapPoint has an incredibly easy demographic feature. Choose up to 16 different demographic points at once – such as population, income, household size, and age – and then instantly MapPoint arrays these features by state, county, city, MSA, zip code, or even Census tract.
A shaded map will show the various areas by any single demographic chosen – such as number of businesses per zip code, teenagers in a particular census tract, or household expenditure patterns for any city in the United States.
Once the demographic factor is selected and mapped, a radius of any number of miles around a site can be created and then instantly exported to an Excel Sheet. With the numbers in Excel, manipulating data to get a clearer snapshot of the type of customers in or around the site is simple.
Radii can be adjusted, expanded or a second radius created and then re-exported for a new area into another Excel Sheet. By simply copying and pasting new numbers into the first Excel sheet and repeating for other locations or radii, an instant comparison of multiple locations is created.
MapPoint can also find and map competitors. The map will not only list a fairly accurate number of competitors within a preselected distance from your business, but it will also pinpoint the exact distance of a business from your site, as well as their address and phone number.
You can import data from an Excel Sheet, and thus map multiple addresses. This is an ideal tool to determine where the customers on a mailing lists are actually located.
Another useful feature in MapPoint indicates expenditure per household for various products such as electronics, books, food, etc. This information can also be narrowed to a particular radius and census tract, thus allowing a better picture of how much money people in your area spend in a year on your products.
Plus, on top of all that, MapPoint offers a GPS tool, and driving directions can be created based on shortest distances, preselected locations, and fastest routes. It can also calculate the cost of gas required to visit those locations.
BELOW IS A MAPPOINT INCOME DIAGRAM FOR A LOCATION IN GLENDALE
Glendale Income Map
Very simple. But you might have some questions. If you do, call or email me. (jill@jbresearchco.com, 805-640-1060) I’ve been doing this for 20+ years, with or without MapPoint!
Comments Off on Understanding Your Market – By the Numbers
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