As Baby Boomers Retire, Missy Shifts Focus

The first wave of baby boomers is turning 60 this year, but don’t tell them that. The new sexagenarians are not acting their age, especially when it comes to their clothing choices. As a result, apparel makers and retailers are making some dramatic adjustments.

While many West Coast apparel companies have been focusing on tweens and 20-somethings, they have quietly overlooked the aging boomer market, which is becoming more of a factor. In fact, by 2010 women between the ages of 45 and 64 will overtake the 12–24 age group as the country’s biggest spenders on apparel, according to a recent report by the Port Washington, N.Y.–based NPD Group.

Retailers are starting to react with new concepts. San Francisco–based Gap Inc. recently launched Forth & Towne, stores that feature clothing aimed at the over-40 segment. Five stores have opened in New York and Chicago and 10 more are planned within a year.It’s not just the merchandise mix that’s different at Forth & Towne, but the store layout has also been engineered to appeal to the boomer customer.“We put the dressing rooms in the middle of the sales floor to create a more social environment,” said Kimberly Terry, spokesperson for the retailer.

American Eagle launched a similar concept called Martin + Osa, which will debut this fall with four units, including stores at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, Calif., and San Francisco Centre. Other projects include Janeville, a chain launched in 2004 by kids’ retailer Gymboree.

Other retailers are taking a quicker route via acquisition. Hingham, Mass.–based Talbots has made a move and bid $517 million to acquire J. Jill in an effort to create the nation’s largest specialty chain catering to women over 35.

While the boomer generation’s strength is in numbers, their lifestyle changes are also having an impact on their buying decisions.“Fifty is the new 30,” said Vera Devletian, designer and owner of Vera Cristina, a Los Angeles–based misses line that features lots of denim. “Women don’t sit around and cook all day. It’s a different attitude now.”

Retailer Dorothy Osbsorne agrees.

“Everything is different,” said Osbsorne, owner of Royal Touch in Burton, Mich. “[She’s] more modern. She’s not home cooking all day. She likes everything in clothes, dressy to casual.”

Updating missy

Unlike previous generations, the new 50- and 60-somethings are dressing more like their younger counterparts, but many manufacturers and retailers said their missy customers don’t want to be categorized or stereotyped. Many manufacturers and sales executives are thinking the same way and are distancing themselves from terms like “misses” to relieve some of the stigma.

“When you mention the word missy, you’d think it’s the F-word or something. Women don’t like being told they’re old ladies,” said Rosanne Tritica of Betty Bottom Inc., a wholesale showroom based in the California Market Center in Los Angeles.

Tritica said the line between age groups has become finer when it comes to fashion. Showing a top from Biondo of Beverly Hills, she said, “A younger woman might wear it sleeveless. An older woman might prefer a three-quarter sleeve. The differences are more subtle now.”

Macy’s West buyer Patty Stark agreed. For Spring/Summer, Bermuda shorts and gauchos are hot for the older consumer she buys for, yet they’re also key items in Macy’s contemporary sections.

“Some trends transcend age groups,” said Stark. “Older consumers pay more attention to quality and she’s willing to spend more on quality than younger consumers. The challenge is to maintain the integrity of price and value. We’re all going to have to pay more attention.”

A recent Cotton Inc. study showed that older women are becoming less stringent on the quality issue than in the past. The trade group said that women 50–70 are willing to sacrifice a little quality for better prices. In a 2005 survey, 56 percent of women said they would pay more for better quality compared to 70 percent of those polled in a 1995 study. About 45 percent said they would sacrifice some quality to get a better price. Only 30 percent agreed in 1995.

Cotton’s survey also found that older women are more interested in fashion than they were in the past. In 1995, only 27 percent said they like to shop for clothes, but that number rose to 41 percent in 2005.The key, said Stark, is giving women a reason to shop. She said brands like Jones New York and Lauren have showed significant growth at Macy’s, attributing that to a balanced mix of styling, quality and fit. “They use live fit models, not mannequins. That helps.”

Casual shift

In Gap’s Forth & Towne concept, the retailer has developed four brands to cater to various lifestyles and situations for older consumers, ranging from careerwear to casual apparel.

The accent on casual appears to be gaining more preference over traditional careerwear among many manufacturers. About two years ago, Jones New York added a more casual line called Signature to address those needs.

“Casual is more accepted in the workplace. People are less willing to suffer in the name of fashion,” said Laurie Dunlap, president of lifestyle line Blue Canoe, based in Garberville, Calif.

With more than 40 million women in the 40- to 50-year-old age bracket alone, marketing toward the older consumer will likely become more of a priority in the years to come.