Boomers have money but they aren't alone
Jerry Epperson -- Furniture Today, August 13, 2007
One of my pet peeves is the way people marketing to Americans categorize us into competing sub-groups, not just in large groups by age, sex, income, race, religion and so forth.
If some had their wishes, we'd be subdivided into groups supposedly pitted against each other, such as domestic vs. foreign cars, NASCAR vs. Indy, teeth vs. dentures, hairy vs. bald, cake vs. pie, Juicy Fruit vs. Big Red, talk radio vs. music, Yankee fan vs. everyone else and so forth.
Worse yet, our colleges, banks, political parties and other entities are trying to win our loyalty, to the exclusion of others, dividing us further.
My family thinks I'm eccentric because I've never allowed bumper stickers on our vehicles. I don't believe anyone cares what candidate I support, where I went to school, what I would rather be driving, whether my kids are honor students, or if I have seen Rock City.
Increasingly, we are seeing the famous baby boomers lumped into single-minded masses. As one of the older 77 million baby boomers, now age 43 to 61, I can assure you it is not true.
For example, a story in the Aug. 6 issue of Newsweek states, "Aging baby boomers have taken up the quest for meaning, as their three-decade infatuation with accumulating 'stuff' wanes in the face of mortality, or just the realization that there's not that much more left to buy."
When a boomer is asked what they want for their birthday, Newsweek quotes the person as replying: "I don't want more stuff. I want experiences. I travel, I eat, I explore, I read." What bunk!
Statistically speaking, and with history as our guide, we know that once we join the 55-to-64 age group, we tend to save more, since we see retirement in our future, while many find religion in their senior years.
What we see is that the priorities are shifting. Boomers are now more likely to be spending on others — their kids, grandchildren, other family and friends. Take the current trend of baby boomers buying vacation homes. Many are acquiring these homes to offer recreation to their families and to spend fun times with them.
Boomers control the big bucks, are still receiving their inheritances, and are an important market for us furniture folks. But we no longer are the only market. Remember that.
