A New and Growing Target Consumer: "Grups"

While price, durability and fit are all important, parents buying children's clothing often make choices for their kids based on what the clothes say, not about their children, but about themselves.


It's this attitude that has spawned the rise of a new and rapidly growing market segment, the "Grup." So what exactly is a "Grup?" It's a term coined by New York Magazine (a pseudo-combination of "grown-up" and "yuppie," young urban professional) explaining the active population of Generation Y (ages 25-45) and Baby Boomer (ages 46-63) parents who look, talk, act, and dress like people who are 20 years old. They are part of a new parenting mantra that has been in Europe and Hollywood for years and is now seeping into urban America:

Becoming a parent doesn't mean you have to lose any sense of who you were twenty minutes before your child was born.

"Grups' is a nerdy reference to an old Star Trek episode in which Kirk and crew land on a planet run entirely by kids, who call grown-ups "grups." All the adults have been killed off by a terrible virus, which also slows the natural aging process, so the kids are trapped in a state of extended prepubescence. They will never grow up. And they are running the show,"

The typical Grup demographic includes parents of a variety of races with a steady, middle-upper class income residing in suburbs of major metropolitan areas (prime Grup real estate includes Park Slope, Brooklyn in the New York metropolitan area and Wilshire and the San Fernando Valley in the Los Angeles area), but is spreading quickly.

While it may seem that Grups are too self-concerned to ever even plan for children, this is not the case; Grups aren't afraid of parenting and they don't avoid having kids. In part, though, this is because Grups find kids to be perfect little Mr. Potato Head versions of themselves. Instead of sacrificing their pre-baby aesthetic preferences in hopes of providing an experience similar to their own upbringing, Grups choose to mold traditions into a way of life they've already established for themselves.

A number of trends have nudged us in this direction, from the increasingly casual dress codes at work to the persistent marketing of counterculture "rebellion" as an easily attainable, catchall symbol for cool. And apparently this pursuit of "cool" does not stop at one's self, but it permeates through an entire environment including prim Chihuahua accessories and titanium new wave baby strollers filled with iPod toting munchkins.

For more information on breaking into this market, get inside the Grup
mindset by reading Alternadad: The True Story of One Family's Struggle to Raise a Cool Kid in America, a new memoir by Neal Pollack for a look inside this revolutionary and growing niche market.

Why Target Grups?
They're fickle, informed, and are constantly in search of something new and innovative. While it may seem challenging to keep up Grups, there are other factors that ease intensity.

o Grups are supportive and searching for new talent but also quite brand loyal and become predictable purchasers once they find products to identify with.

o Daddy Grup has more opinion on aesthetic purchases than most other father figures, so honing in on catering to him can be a profitable and unique route to follow. In a survey by Mintel's Men's Changing Lifestyles September 2005 Report, a reported 53% of men with elementary school aged children are self-proclaimed impulse shoppers, compared to 35% of the female population who admit it. An example is the success of YoyaMart, a Manhattan children's outpost that uses a masculine edge in its visual merchandising to gain an edge over the competition.

Since Grups are major supporters of the "Mini-me" approach to dressing their children, as featured in kidding consulting report , most trends follow what's happening with the established women's contemporary market. This makes it simple to keep fresh ideas due to the saturation of reports projecting directions for the new season in this category.

(Sternbergh, Photo courtesy of Ari Versluis & Ellie Uyttenbroek Adam "Up With Grups." New York Magazine, 3 April 2006.)

Publisher: infomat
InfoMat serves as a one-stop information source for international apparel, textile & accessories professionals. This is where retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and service providers interact with our network of over 350,000+ fashion companies. We make it easy to source, connect, compare, research and assess industry-wide business opportunities.
Web: www.infomat.com
Published: june 2006
Market: mens womens childrens
Region: usa
Industry: apparel
Editor: roxanna rector

DISCLAIMER
Information in this report relies on sources including Trade Shows, Associations, News Releases, Government Reports and other public sources. Infomat can accept no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such information or for loss or damage caused by any use thereof.