Chicago-Kids market still competitive in Windy City

By Jane Kitchen -- Kids Today, 9/1/2006

CHICAGO — The second Metro Report in our series focuses on the competitive marketplace of Chicago, the big city with Midwest sensibilities. Chicago’s 2004 population of 9.4 million is projected to grow 4% by 2009 to 9.8 million.

While that’s slightly less than the national average of 5% growth, the number of kids between 0 and 5 is expected to grow by only 1% in Chicago, and the number of kids between 6 and 11 years old is expected to decline by 4%. That means an increasingly competitive marketplace for some of the retailers we profile in the next few pages who cater to children under 12.

The number of adults in the Windy City ages 25 to 35 — prime childbearing years — is expected to stay level at about 1.4 million, while the population of those ages 35 to 44 is projected to decline 3%. The number of 12- to 17-year-olds is expected to increase by 7%, about the national average.

Despite these numbers, sales of infant and nursery furniture are still expected to soar 21% by 2009 — the same rate as youth and teen furniture — while infant equipment sales will grow 7% and infant accessories will grow 9%.

Although white households will continue to be the largest ethnic segment in the Chicago metropolitan area — about three-fourths of households — the number of Asian and Hispanic households is growing at a much faster rate: 17% and 15% respectively, compared with a growth rate of just 2% for white households and 6% for black households.

Chicago is one of the nation’s wealthiest metro areas. The median household income in 2004 was $53,746, 23% above the national median. Only 26 metro areas in the country had higher incomes. Nearly one-third of Chicago households had incomes of $75,000 or more. By 2009, demographers with Easy Analytic Software Inc. expect that 43% of Chicago households will have incomes of $75,000 or more.

To see where some of that money is being spent, we visited five Chicago-area retailers: Land of Nod, Wickes, Lazar’s, My Child’s Room and Ikea. There are three Land of Nod stores in the greater Chicago area, 13 Wickes, one Lazar’s, eight My Child’s Rooms and one Ikea.

Over the next few pages, we’ll provide a look at how these five retailers are capturing consumers’ attention in this Midwest metropolis.

Ikea offers hip design, attractive price points

This youth vignette shows Ikea’s playful style, complete with colorful bedding, a chunky armoire and leaf overlays, which retail for $14.99 and hang over the bed.

SCHAUMBERG, Ill. — The 430,000-square-foot Ikea store here is the largest in the Western hemisphere. This suburban store’s parking lot was packed on a Thursday afternoon, and featured Disney-esque parking signs to help customers locate their cars after an afternoon of shopping.

Spread over three floors, Ikea offers home décor products at sharp price points, and its recent campaign of Living With Children means that the company is more focused than ever on making the store family-friendly.

It starts before customers even enter the store, with Ikea truck shopping carts that kids can ride inside. For those children who prefer other diversions, a 2,000-square-foot Smäland offers supervised play with arts and crafts, puppets, movies and a large plastic ball pit, all with a Swedish outdoors theme.

Throughout the store, 11 smaller playhouses are placed strategically in areas where parents might need some extra time shopping — in sections devoted to sofas, area rugs or bookcases.

A teen area features room settings with age-appropriate themes, such as surfing and skateboarding. A faux brick wall with graffiti, rest area with snacks, music listening area and a half-pipe all contribute to the mood, and an unsupervised area lets teens escape to the world of video games.

Throughout the store, vignettes are set up with different situations — for example, a young couple just moving in together or a family living in a small apartment with kids. Children’s furniture is shown in room settings alongside adult furniture — hence the slogan “Living With Children” — such as a vignette that features an adult bedroom with a crib. The room also has an attached bathroom, and throughout, details such as child-height mirrors and bookshelves or a wall-mounted fold-down changing table above the toilet show how parents and kids can share the same space.

The idea, said store manager Rob Olson, is to make the entire store accessible to children. Even the information towers that feature catalogs with additional choices include steps so that children can look on and be part of the conversations.

Twin beds range from $39 for a basic model to $269 for a captain’s bed, with bunks and lofts displayed on the floor as well as coordinating case goods.

Ikea also carries three crib models: a traditional, convertible style that retails for $179, a Scandinavian modern-styled convertible that retails for $119 and a clean-lined modern crib dubbed the Sniglar that retails for a sharp $89.

The children’s area also features feeding products such as baby spoons and bibs, along with high chairs that range from $4.99 to $13.99. Plush, wall storage, bedding, rugs, lighting, play tents and easels all add to the mix.

And when parents and kids get hungry, Ikea also has a restaurant, which — no surprise — is also child-friendly, offering 99-cent macaroni and cheese or half portions of adult meals for children, along with jars of baby food for 79 cents.

Customers in Chicago learn about Ikea through a catalog that’s sent out every summer, along with brochures that are mailed throughout the year. Ads in the Chicago Tribune also help pull traffic, as do various community activities the store is involved in that keep the name visible.

Along with its sharp price points and Scandinavian designs, Olson said the store offers a full day out for the entire family, with food, play areas and shopping — something not every juvenile store can boast.

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Reputation, customer service guide Lazar’s

LINCOLNWOOD, Ill. — Lazar’s, a NINFRA-member store that got its start in 1917, does business the old-fashioned way.

With a focus on customer service, quality items and knowledgeable employees, the 9,000-square-foot store doesn’t just sell to new parents, it educates them.

The store has a decidedly infant focus, with about 80% of its products for babies, including a broad selection of strollers and carseats from manufacturers like BOB Strollers, Bugaboo, Mountain Buggy, Maclaren, Peg Perego, Graco, Bertini, Combi, Britax, Jupiter and Stokke.

Furniture vendors include Morigeau Lepine, Ragazzi and Pali, with textiles from Nava’s Designs, KidsLine, California Kids, Brandee Danielle, Sumersault, Picci, PatchKraft, Cotton Tales, Kimberley Grant and BananaFish.
Accessories from Creative Images, Ukid, Inmon Inds., Merimack, Art for Kids and Green Frog Art round out the mix.

This single-location store finds its customers mostly by word-of-mouth, though a presence in the Yellow Pages and an advertisement in Chicago Parent also help. Third-generation owner Mark Lazar defines his clients as belonging to upper economic groups, and he believes they don’t want to be “sold.”

Lazar keeps in mind that these are new consumers who haven’t shopped for these products before, and he focuses on finding long-term employees who know how to take the time to explain the benefits of each product in his store.

“We have an absolutely fantastic reputation,” he said. “They come here because they need (products). It’s either you sell it to them or the guy down the street does.”

His son Adam, in his 30s, is working at the store as well, and as such is the fourth generation of Lazars to be involved with the business. Many of the store’s shoppers, too, are third- and fourth-generation shoppers.

“You can’t buy that,” Lazar said. “We’re here for a reason.”

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Cool styles rule at Land of Nod

CHICAGO — Land of Nod, which got its start here as a specialty juvenile catalog company, now has three stores plus an outlet in the greater Chicago area. It continues to have strong catalog sales throughout the country, as well as a strong Web presence; its only other brick-and-mortar store outside of Chicago is in Seattle.

Crate & Barrel has owned a percentage of the company since 2001, so it’s no surprise that the Land of Nod in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, open since 2003, is located right next to a three-story Crate & Barrel. The neighborhood is also filled with trendy stores that cater to today’s hip parents: Z Gallerie, Pottery Barn, J. Crew, The Container Store and Banana Republic are all nearby.

Inside, the Land of Nod captures the whimsy of childhood, with themed vignettes, along with cute and quirky sayings painted on the walls. The store features wood floors and track lighting, and is painted in soft, soothing colors.

Vintage themes abound, appealing to an upscale parent who longs for simpler times for her child, and are translated onto textiles, accessories and even games for a fully coordinated look.

A bath area focuses not just on the home furnishings for the bath, such as shower curtains, bath mats and towels, but also on items like gentle laundry detergent by Sweet Pea, kids shampoos and Burt’s Bees products.

Twin, full, bunk and metal beds are all represented in the 7,000-square-foot store, most of which are private label. On the infant side, Jenny Lind-style cribs in a variety of pastel shades are popular and take on a fresh, modern look when coordinated with Dwell crib bedding.

The Land of Nod is no stranger to the world of infant gift-giving. It launched an online baby registry last fall, which can also be accessed in the store. For the friend or family member who wants a special gift, a make-your-own-gift-tote area allows customers to pick and choose from a variety of merchandise, including plates, bowls, layette, CDs and toys.

Nearby is a wall of CDs made for kids, complete with a listening station. These are not your average children’s music CDs, but selections designed to appeal to today’s parents as well, with recordings from artists such as R.E.M., Jack Johnson, Moby, They Might Be Giants, Harry Connick Jr. and Bonnie Raitt. Similar music plays throughout the store. Continuing with the vintage theme, Land of Nod also stocks music familiar to today’s Gen X parents from their childhood, including “Free to Be You and Me” and “Best of Schoolhouse Rock.”

Chicagoans hear about Land of Nod through its catalogs, Web site and through local newspaper advertising. Company spokeswoman Lisa Ridolfi said the store is in a growth pattern.

“It’s a terrific market right now,” she said. “…We see a really bright future.”

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Wickes making big strides in youth category

DOWNER'S GROVE , Ill. — With 13 area locations, Wickes has a definite presence here in Chicago. The 38,000-square-foot Downer’s Grove store, which opened in August 2003, is in a suburban area full of home furnishings stores, including a BombayKIDS, Homemakers and Kidz Room, along with a Best Buy, Books A Million and Toys “R” Us.

Youth has been a fast-growing category for Wickes, especially in the past two years, said merchandising manager Robin Meyer.

The 3,000-square-foot department houses 12 collections in the best-selling styles, with a mix of domestic and imported groups. Manufacturers such as Legacy, Manchester, Thornwood, American Woodcrafters, Vignettes and Palliser are represented, along with accent pieces from Powell, textiles from KidsLine and accessories from P.J. Kids, Creative Images, Fun Rugs and Russ Berrie.
Twin beds open at $199 and range up to $599, with captain’s beds topping out at $799 and lofts at $1099.

The department has its own separate look, with walls painted with clouds and mirrors to expand the space.

One dedicated kids consultant works at the store, though Meyer said all the sales consultants are well-trained in youth. Wickes even boasts dedicated kids delivery drivers.
Chicagoans know Wickes from its 30- plus-year history in the area, but they also hear about the store through radio and television ads, as well as circulars in local newspapers. Selection, prices and perceived value are what Meyer said drive traffic to the youth department, along with trust in the Wickes brand.

Meyer said there are plans for four to six more stores in the next two years, including a new store in Naperville, Ill., opening in April. Meyer is focusing on the tween market, following a trend of kids wanting to age up. She sees youth as a category for continued growth, thanks in part to the options out there.

“More attention in general paid to the category does nothing but help everybody,” she said.

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Merchandising, price key at My Child’s Room

NILES, Ill. — My Child’s Room is the newest face on the Chicago juvenile retail scene, and this eight-store outfit looks poised to take on the competition. Majority owner Bob Geisheker bought the stores, once part of the USA Baby franchise, last May and has given them a new name, look and feel.

With the opening of Geisheker’s flagship store in Niles last month (see story, page 18), Chicagoans have a glimpse of what the future holds: large, flexible, open stores with furniture from manufacturers such as Pali, Baby’s Dream, Bambino Reale, A.P. Inds., Young America and Munire; a plethora of strollers and carseats to choose from; track lighting, wood flooring and a centralized checkout area; and a special counter for registries.

My Child’s Room carries both infant and youth furniture and bedding, and Geisheker focuses on service, selection, price points and style to make his stores the destination for everything juvenile. He’s also looking for that “wow” factor when customers walk in the store, so he pays careful attention to merchandising. In the new Niles store, a series of pastel-colored moveable walls ensure that displays can change frequently.

Creative merchandising is also key; a large stroller area features a mural of a park, complete with real lampposts and park benches, along with a pathway to try out different stroller models. The carseat area is designed to look like a garage, and a model kitchen showcases highchairs.

Geisheker sends out a 28-page mailer four times a year that includes full-color photos of available goods and follows those up throughout the year with postcards. He also advertises on television and radio, but he believes one of the most important tools to get his message out to the public is the Internet.

Citing statistics that show the majority of first-time moms are working through their pregnancy, Geisheker said a Web site that shows the assortment of everything in the store is vital. “(First-time moms) don’t have a lot of time,” he explained. An online registry is in the works, something to help moms save even more time.

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