Every summer, I drag myself through the heat and humidity to Javits Convention Center for NYNOW’s summer market. This year is August 16 – 19, 2015. It’s a huge convention center, filled to bursting with fresh, colorful ideas. Trends are laid out for you in glorious 3 dimensional technicolor and it. is. exhausting! I love it. I completely love it, but I have to start working out for it months in advance.
Interesting, this year in the promotional materials they are talking a lot about the changing customer base in terms of lifestyle. My ears pricked immediately. That is one of our signatures at Amazing Spaces NYC – home staging, yes, but more accurately, Lifestyle Marketing. Millenials’ more casual lifestyle (than their BabyBoomer parents) is altering the retail landscape. Which one would expect, it’s just fun when everyone sits up and notices how. How many Boomers do you know who are just now starting to downsize and finally stop acquiring things? As the youngest of that generation sends their last kid off to college, a new era is emerging. And, the more The Gift And Decor industry writes about the Millennials, the more I realize that this is vital intel for home stagers as we prepare homes for sale for younger or first time buyers.
Gifting Trends Derive From Millennials Lifestyle
Millennials are becoming known as the ‘Cut The Cord Generation’. Gone for them are phone wires, audio system cables, TV plugs, TV in general! Since they carry their life and memories around on a phone, they don’t need or photo frames so much anymore. In terms of gift giving, according to a recent study commissioned by Gift and Decorative Accessories magazine Picture Frames are becoming less popular, as are candles.
To do a centerpiece of candles used to be pretty. Not so any longer. Now, an aromatherapy mister in the kitchen would be more on trend.
Toys, games and puzzles are popular again, as is anything handmade. It’s not just Panera excited about “Artisanal” – “Handmade” is huge. In fact, NYNOW will have a whole separate section on handmade items and exhibit hours specifically for that part of the Gift and Decor convention. 632 of the show’s 2,600+ exhibitors come from the Artisan space.
Other items trending are bar-ware. This is not surprising when you consider that the Millennials feel a strong affinity for the 50s, mid-century modern and all things ‘Mad Men’. Cocktails and the stuff to stir, shake and pour are all the rage. Actually, is this particularly new? Apparently it’s THE hot trend in giftware right now, but hasn’t Pottery Barn been selling these items since [their] Day One?
When we think of first time buyers, we need to keep in mind, those folks are Millennials, and they’re a generation that is starting to be well-defined. They are starting to have enough of their own money that they set trends all by themselves. Anything that appeals to them in general is what we should be staging with whenever they’re the target market.
Now, lest you worry whether I’ve incorporated any of these trends yet, let me remind you of a recent staging we had great success with –>
Happy summer! Looking forward to bringing you some sizzling ideas from #NYNOW.
