HBC'S GOLDEN AGE

LAURA KLEPACKI

The bulge has arrived. A groundswell of those shoppers turning age 50 is changing the make up of health and beauty care retailing.

As the current crop of Americans over 50 have shown, seniors are no longer stay-at-home, garden-tending, rocking-chair types. They are roaming the country in recreational vehicles, taking water aerobics and playing golf.

And as the massive baby boomer population enters that life stage, bringing with them their lifelong commitment to fitness and appearance (the first wave turned 50 last year), their influence on the development of health and beauty care products will be enormous, say retailers, suppliers and industry researchers.

In the past few years, a slew of new product developments in areas such as incontinence, vitamin supplement and adult nutritional drinks, hair coloring and regrowth, and 'age-defying' alpha-hydroxy skin care products have created new markets. And these and others are only expected to grow as the boomers move forward.

"For the next five to 10 years we will see so many changes and so much growth, it is really an exciting time to be in HBC," said Tony Harrington, HBC category manager for Shurfine International, Northlake, Ill. "And there is a really receptive audience to that. People are really accepting of new technologies, such as alpha-hydroxy, as well as different herbal remedies."

And "the same consumer is using both -- an herbal remedy and a high-tech product," said Harrington.

For the next 18 years a baby boomer will turn 50 at an average pace of one every 7.5 seconds, according to Primelife, an Orange, Calif.-based marketing firm.

While the current 50-plus age group has more discretionary income than the baby boomers are likely to have at the same age, said Frank Conaway, president and chief executive officer of Primelife, "baby boomers are extremely youth oriented and will spend on cosmetics and cosmetic surgery probably more than the ones who are already in this age group."

Baby boomers are generally considered to be born in the years 1946 to 1960 and will tremendously boost the size of the senior-citizen population in this country as they mature. According to the U.S. Census, in 1990 the number of Americans age 50 and over was 63.5 million; in the year 2000 that will grow to 75.8 million; and in the year 2010 it is projected to reach 96.4 million.

To meet the demands of this growing 50-plus market, Shurfine is adding many new items to its line of controlled-brand products, carried by supermarket chains throughout the United States and internationally, said Harrington. "It is something we've been thinking about, and we have a significant number of items coming out targeted to that segment," he said.

In April, a minoxidil-based hair-growth product, available in 30-day and 60-day supply packages, was launched. A melatonin sleep-aid product is being added. And the development of several vitamin, herbal and hormonal products are under way, which "are not really marketed to that segment, but are designed to appeal to that segment," said Harrington.

Shurfine is also adding a ginkgo biloba item, a product which claims to improve or stimulate memory, along with its own version of Rejuvenex, called Jeuvenex, which will be in stores within two months. Additionally, Shurfine is extending its year-old adult nutritional drink line with a low-fat version, said Harrington.

"The other really big area we target is incontinence products," said Harrington. "It is becoming a huge, huge category."

"There is a lot of innovation in the market and it is nothing new. But it is a personal, private matter people were not accustomed to discussing. And we didn't recognize that there was a need," said Harrington. "The real market growth is for people who experience casual incontinence and products that are not full briefs and allow them more mobility." Shurfine now carries seven stockkeeping units and by summer will expand that to 11.

Perhaps innovations like these will give supermarkets a boost in grabbing a bigger piece of HBC sales, which has remained stable as mass merchants continue to take a bigger market share.

In 1996, total HBC sales across mass-retailing channels reached $42 billion, up 1.9% over the previous year. Food stores accounted for $13.4 billion or 31.9% market share, up 0.3%, while mass merchants grew 10.9% to $13.6 billion, capturing a 32.5% market share. Still leading, but not by much, was the drug trade, whose sales fell 3.9% to $14.9 billion, grabbing a 35.6% share of market, according to Information Resources Inc., Chicago, for the 52 weeks ended Dec. 29, 1996.

Meanwhile the development of the dietary supplements category is also expected to grow with new antioxidants, which research has shown can retard the aging process, according to Adams, Harkness & Hill, Boston. "Typical vitamin consumption rises most significantly during a consumer's 30's and 40's, and generally becomes more of a regular, daily habit with age. This means that the baby boom generation is entering its prime vitamin-taking years," according to its recent market report.

And with the current 50-plus market having the highest amount of discretionary income of all other age groups, vitamin sales could grow as a result. According to the report, high-income consumers tend to have higher vitamin usage.

Frankie Cadwell, president of Cadwell Davis Advertising, New York, which specializes in the 50-plus market, said she expects to see bigger sales in skin creams and lotions for women, not only because women want those products, but also because better-quality products now exist.

"I think that there are a lot of new products that have come on the market for skin care which are really much more advanced and promise more to women than before," said Cadwell, who uses the term "cosmeceuticals" to reflect a "more medical approach" to skin care. "Before, the older woman was resigned to moisturizing her face and not much more.

"She has a feeling that she can create a better condition in her skin with some of the new things on the market," said Cadwell. "And now that there is something out there worth paying for, it will change her shopping habits."

An HBC buyer for a unit of Gooding's Supermarkets, Apopka, Fla., has already seen customers reach out for new specialty skin creams and lotions despite higher price points.

"They do really well for us," referring to the two brands of wrinkle-defense cream the chain carries, said Kecia Aponte at the Gooding's Altamonte Springs, Fla., store. "Even being at $6 or $7 in a grocery store, we sell it."

Other good sellers at the store are the antioxidant vitamins and calcium supplements, said Aponte. "I have to order our main seller at least twice a month."

And six months ago, space was doubled for adult nutritional drinks, said Aponte. "We carry at least 15 to 20 SKUs, which are merchandised on two bottom shelves in an 8-foot section."

Audrey Guskey, marketing professor at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, "absolutely" expects to see "a lot more development in the health and beauty aids area, especially with the aging of a large mass of people who have been fighting the aging process and doing everything they can to stay fit," she said.

But she suggests retailers and marketers be gentle when "dealing with [a subject] such as age over 50 and 60."

For people just reaching 50, "they are very sensitive to age, and you have to be extremely careful," cautions Guskey. "You have to be really in tune with peoples' feelings."

Attitudes have changed, said Guskey. "People who are 65 and 70 are considered20the 'young old.' It is the 85- and 90-year-old people who are the seniors." The20members of the 50-plus group are still "running and exercising and they need products that are going to support that."

Eagle Food Centers, Milan, Ill., has slowly started targeting that population, according to Renee Alfrey, HBC buyer. "Saleswise, obviously, hair coloring is doing well and we are expanding a little bit on that, and also the alpha-hydroxy and 'age-defying' items are all doing well."

She said incontinence products were selling and three private-label items were being added.

The retailer also recently added a second branded item to its adult nutritional drink section and is considering a third branded item and a private-label item.

"But we haven't made a decision yet, because we have to share that space with our vitamin section, and we are limited," said Alfrey.

Otherwise, "gastrointestinal, laxatives and fiber items continue to do well," she added.

At Jackson, Miss.-based Jitney Jungle Stores of America, some adult vitamins have been promoted in store fliers, and overall vitamin-section sales have been increasing.

But the growth isn't strictly attributed to senior sales, said Fulton Royal, HBC buyer for the chain. "There is more vitamin movement overall. The whole category has increased for us, and we still use the same space we've always had."

However, a few other senior-oriented products have also been doing well, said Royal, such as the adult nutritional drinks and alpha-hydroxy skin products.

Number of Americans age 50 and over (in millions)

1990 63.5

2000 75.8

2010 96.4

Upward Mobility

The mature adult segment is massive. It's projected that those people 55 and older will represent nearly 40% of the U.S. population by the year 2010. Today this population controls 40% of all consumer spending, according to some sources. Demand from this group of consumers is changing the HBC department to include a mix of products more health and wellness oriented.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census