Radio Sales Today proclaims that "Outdoors Opens Up For Retail" and the trend could really help your clients if they are struggling with normal product offerings and are looking for the "hot" items this summer...
"The outdoor living category is a $70 billion market in the United States and growing steadily, according to industry experts. The rise of staycations, which means people are spending their vacation and leisure time at or close to their homes, has increased consumer spending in such categories as planting, grills, outdoor furniture, waterfalls and fountains, storage and solar lighting, among others.
"The economy has really affected the sale of higher ticket items, but fortunately, consumers are staying around their homes and improving their outdoor living space," said Jeff Peifer, Ace Hardware's buyer for outdoor living. "Ace was very fortunate to be up 3.5 percent in the outdoor living category in a dismal economy."
Ace isn't the only one enjoying the trend, others in that catagory have expanded their offerings and are seeing impulse buys as they make the selection larger and more visible in the stores...
"According to Rick Pontz, president of the Lawn and Garden Performance Group, some hardware stores are now devoting as much as 27 percent of floor space to these products. Pontz also said that one of the major hardware co-ops has hired new lawn and garden buyers and switched over some existing buyers to lawn and garden from other categories.
"Lawn and garden has become a safe haven for retailers, and a lot of retailers are beginning to devote more shelf space and attention to the category," Pontz said during an educational session at the National Hardware Show last month. "Create an outdoor living room or kitchen, add an awning or canopy over a deck, add a grill, cozy furniture, speakers, ambient lighting. There are outdoor games like bocce ball, croquet, badminton, horse shoes. Put a section in the store and call it staycation."
The stores that do create extensive outdoor living sections have an opportunity to sell not only grills and outdoor furniture but a variety of accessories as well. Joe Burch, general manager of Grillfinity, which specializes in grilling tool sets, said his company's sales have picked up at outdoor specialty stores, hardware stores and other venues.
"With the economy, people staying home and doing more refurbishing. Instead of a new griller, they go into a hardware store and buy replacement parts," Burch says. "While there, they pick up a brush or accessory. More people are coming in, seeing something and saying, 'I can use that.'"