LOS ANGELES — Retailers listen to teenagers like Kandice Kovac, who loves reality TV, shopping online, Abercrombie & Fitch, board shops, C & C T-shirts and the magazines Allure and Cosmo.
“I probably buy something from C & C [California] online at least every month,” said Kovac, 18.
Pacific Sunwear, Urban Outfitters, Quiksilver and Hot Topic, which cater to the youth market, soaked up insights last weekend during a teen panel discussion at the ICR XChange retail conference in Carlsbad, Calif., where retailers presented their 2005 outlooks for industry analysts and investors.
They heard 20 juniors and seniors from Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego County weigh in on everything from their favorite clothing brands and holiday gifts to their online habits and disposable income.
Who is this elusive, brand-savvy teen with money to burn and an appetite for things new and trendy?
About half of the panel members said they had part-time jobs, and half said they spent 50 percent of their own money on clothes.
U.S. teens pay $169 billion annually to buy goods and services, more than the gross domestic product of countries such as Finland, Norway, Portugal, Denmark and Greece, according to Teenage Research Unltd., a Chicago-based teen research company.
The one thing on which the group unanimously agreed? Music is a huge influence on their lives. Three-quarters had downloaded music, and almost half said they either owned or wanted to own an Apple iPod.
Hot Topic chief executive officer Betsy McLaughlin cheered when several students named the punk band My Chemical Romance as their favorite. The company sells a My Chemical Romance Album Cover T-shirt for $17.99
Hot Topic, the City of Industry, Calif.-based teen chain, has carved a niche as a purveyor of trendy rock ’n’ roll, punk and music-influenced fashions for teens, but has recently seen sales slip as the return to softer, more feminine looks has dominated the market. The retailer reported a December same-store sales decrease of 6.2 percent, compared with a 10.1 percent increase last year.
McLaughlin said it is possible to address the trends in a way that is relevant to the company’s core consumer. “The more feminine look is actually applicable to us,” McLaughlin said at the conference. “But not frilly feminine. More romantic feminine.”
Related Articles
You May Also Like
And instead of the ubiquitous sherbet colors that will dominate this spring, the company will address color with hues such as silver, burgundy, green and blue that are more relevant to their customers, she said.
Though the teens were split between those in favor of trendier looks, punk styles or surf-inspired fashions, almost all agreed that denim was the mainstay of their wardrobes. They each owned an average of four pairs of jeans, and more than 25 percent confessed to owning about 10 pairs.
The lines the panel said they wear and love were Guess, Volcom, The Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch and premium denim lines such as Seven For All Mankind and Rock & Republic.
Jeff Kleinfelter, senior research analyst for Piper Jaffray, who moderated and conducts similar panels throughout the year as well as national teen surveys twice a year, said teens’ brand consciousness was “very typical for a coastal community on the West Coast, where there are more independent shops.”
And retailers such as Pacific Sunwear, which have tended to place more emphasis on tops, are trying to respond to the demand for denim.
“We’re working on expanding the denim offerings,” said Tom Kennedy, division president for PacSun. “We’ve only had one fit with two legs for the girls, but you’ll start to see us address different styles for different body types. Then we’ll address the washes.”
Kennedy, a recent hire from The Gap, is the first division president for the Anaheim, Calif.-based company, which in December reported year-to-date sales of $1.2 billion, an 18 percent jump, compared with the previous year. The company is looking to hire additional division heads to help focus on core elements of the business.
Brand names aren’t as important to students such as 18-year-old Brittany Jones, who implored the companies to lower prices.
“If I like it and it’s comfortable and cheap, I’ll buy it,” said Jones, who recently received an iPod mini for her birthday. “I don’t care what brand it is.”
Guess jeans, one of the teens’ favorite brands, might just be out of the budget range of youths like Jones.
“We’re not going in the value direction,” said Carlos Alberini, Guess president and chief operating officer. “In fact, we’re cutting off the $59-$69 price point at retail. We’ve moved the needle up in terms of price and found little resistance.’’
Alberini said the company “missed the mark in denim this [past] year” because of turnover, poor planning, buying and execution, but that he anticipates being on track by March.
One area doing well for Guess is its accessories business, Alberini said. Guess operates six accessories stores, as well as 150 Guess stores and four Marciano locations.
“We think the accessories concept could be huge,” he said.
Bebe has also seen its accessories business increase and will be launching freestanding accessories stores, said Walter Parks, the company’s chief financial officer.
“We’ve seen signs of growth in [the accessories] category during the past six months,” Parks said.
Teen Trends
Least cool: The preppy look.
Look that won’t die: Uggs
Store they’re sick of: Abercrombie & Fitch
Most popular store: Abercrombie & Fitch
Who they’re listening to: Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Gwen Stefani, Led Zeppelin, The Red Hot Chili Peppers
Average pair of jeans they own: 4
Most pairs of jeans they own: 10
Favorite denim brands: Guess, Volcom, Gap
Shop the Web: 25 percent
Favorite Christmas gifts: Seven For All Mankind jeans, Apple iPod, BCBG pumps, snowboard