Juvenile retailers get creative in Bean Town
By Jane Kitchen -- Kids Today, 7/1/2005
Boston— It isn't just academics that keep Bean Town competitive — in this Northeast metropolis, retailers compete for consumer dollars with a wide variety of styles and gimmicks. From small boutiques to mega stores with a full line of entertainment, Boston has it all.
In this, our third Metro Report in the series, we take a look at this Northeast city and the youth marketplace here. With a population of 4.45 million in 2004, the Boston metro population is projected to grow to 4.54 million by 2009.
Although white households will continue to make up the majority of Boston area households, they will only grow 2% between 2004 and 2009. Black households will grow 9% between 2004 and 2009, while Asian households will grow 18% and Hispanic households will grow 17%.
The big change in the youth population will be in the teen years, with the number of children from 12 to 17 expected to grow 3.8% between 2004 and 2009, while children from 6 to 11 will decline 5.8% and those younger than 5 will remain close to the same, with a decline of .4%.
Despite these numbers, spending on infant and nursery furniture is expected to grow at the same rate as youth and teen bedroom furniture — a growth of 19% for both categories by 2009. Part of that may be due to the fact that the median household income in Boston is also expected to grow, from $58,791 in 2004 — well above the national average — to $71,044 in 2009.
Sales of infant equipment and infant accessories are expected to grow 6% and 8%, respectively, by 2009.
To look at where some of this growth might take place, we looked at four area stores with a focus on youth: Baby Furniture Warehouse Store in Braintree, Mass.; Bernie & Phyl's Furniture in Braintree; Jordan's Furniture in Reading, Mass.; and Mulberry Road in Boston.
Each of these stores takes a different approach to selling juvenile products. The next few pages will provide you with some insight — both written and visual — into what these different retailers are doing to capture the attention of Boston consumers.
