Everybody eats, and everybody needs a place to eat. Across the nation, households plan to spend more than $1.5 billion dollars on casual dining furniture and nearly $3 billion on formal dining furniture this year.
What's even more encouraging is that, unlike for some other product categories, planned spending is projected to rise considerably higher than the amount spent in 2000. And more households plan to be out there buying the product this year over last.
Leading the pack headed for dining room purchases are households that fall into four life stage groups: young singles, young couples, young parents and middle parents — all with high plan-to-buy indexes. These four groups account for 50% of those planning to buy casual dining room and 51% of those planning to buy formal dining room furniture.
Young singles eat in
As a group, these households are perceived to be the most likely to grab a bite on the run, get take-out or enjoy some home-cooking at mom's.
And yet Furniture/Today's Consumer Buying Trend 2001 Survey shows that this life stage group has a plan-to-buy index of 153 and 156 for casual dining and formal dining, respectively, showing that young singles plan to buy furniture at a rate 1.5 times greater than their proportion to the population.
More than three-fourths of these households are in the 25-34 age group, and more than two-thirds have incomes in the under $40,000 income bracket.
The biggest difference between those planning to buy casual dining and formal dining are where they live. While 65% of those planning to buy formal dining furniture live in a house, only 45% of those planning to buy casual dining furniture live in a house — although many more rent than own or are buying those houses.
Conversely, 55% of those planning to buy casual dining furniture live in an apartment, condominium or twinplex, compared to 33% of their formal dining counterparts.
Young couples spend more
Stepping up slightly in age and a bit more in income from their young single counterparts, this life stage group has a much higher plan-to-buy index for formal dining (180) than for casual dining (112) furniture.
With about 75% of this life stage in the 25-44 age group, household incomes are scattered throughout the various income brackets, although 27% have incomes of $50,000-$74,999.
A large majority of these live in a house or an apartment, with just over half buying their home.
The biggest difference between those planning to buy casual and formal dining is the amount they plan to spend — $500 for casual dining and $1,000 for formal dining furniture.
Young parents think 'kids'
With children in the picture, not only does the young family need a place to eat, it needs furniture that stands up to the wear and tear and spills that come with young children and their table manners.
This group is more heavily skewed to buying casual dining with a plan-to-buy index of 210, while its index for formal dining is still a very healthy 183.
Even more than for the young singles and young couples, this group lives in a house (more than two-thirds) and most own or are buying their homes.
One interesting difference between young parents planning to buy casual dining and those planning to buy formal dining furniture is their incomes. For casual dining furniture, young parents fall mainly in the under $20,000 and the $50,000-$74,999 brackets. For those planning to buy formal dining furniture, young parents are more evenly divided between all the income brackets.
Middle parents
Older than the other three life stages, two-thirds of this group is in the 35-44 age range, with children aged six or older. The marriage rate is down slightly, suggesting that some of these families may be setting up a second household due to divorce or separation.
More than any other group, about three-fourths of these households that are planning to buy dining room furniture live in a house and own or are buying their homes. Their incomes are fairly evenly distributed across the spectrum.
Interestingly, middle parents plan to spend less on both casual and formal dining room furniture than are young couples and young parents — a median of $300 on casual dining and $600 on formal dining.
| Best life stage prospects for casual and formal dining | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Those that plan to buy casual or formal dining in 2001 at a rate higher than their proportion in the population. | ||||||||
| Young singles | Young couples | Young parents | Middle parents | |||||
| Plan-to-buy index* 100 *An index of 100 = planning to spend at same rate as the groups proportion to the overall population |
||||||||
| Casual dining | Formal dining | Casual dining | Formal dining | Casual dining | Formal dining | Casual dining | Formal dining | |
| Projected number of households planning to buy | 200,000 | 155,000 | 300,000 | 360,000 | 920,000 | 605,000 | 500,000 | 380,000 |
| Median dollar amount planning to spend | $350 | $600 | $500 | $1,000 | $300 | $1,000 | $300 | $600 |
| Total plan to spend dollars | $70 million | $95 million | $150 million | $360 million | $275 million | $605 million | $150 million | $230 million |
