Teen retail's overlooked disadvantage (2024)

PacSun has filed Chapter 11. Aeropostale is teetering on the edge. Abercrombie & Fitch and a handful of other teen retailers are on the road to recovery, but sales remain well below the levels of their heyday.

Though brands that cater to teenage shoppers have grappled with many of the same issues as the broader industry — rock-bottom prices and the rise of Amazon, to name a few — one analyst argues this group of stores is up against an additional headwind that most other retailers don't have to deal with: a short selling window.

Citi analyst Paul Lejuez recently told investors that when analyzing a company's value, one thing that's often overlooked is the length of time a brand can sell to a particular customer.

"Think about a player in the teen retail sector," he said. "American Eagle's target customer, for example, is between the ages of 15 and 25. That means [the company] has about a 10-year span to sell to its customer."

"This means that every 10 years (max) American Eagle turns over their customer base completely. This puts more pressure on them to consistently attract that 14-year-old to replace the 26-year-olds they are losing," he said.

Indeed, as early 2000s teens graduated from these labels, the stores struggled to remain relevant among a new shopper base that craved more fashion, and less logo.

Still, that's not to say broadening a brand's customer base is always the right decision. Lejuez pointed to Talbots and Tiffany as examples of how attracting a younger shopper can alienate a brand's core customer base.

Around 2010, he said, Talbots tried to attract a younger woman, who could not look past its reputation as her "mom's" brand. Meanwhile, Talbots' core demographic, women ages 55 and older, felt the brand had become too "young."

A similar situation occurred at Tiffany, Lejuez said. When the jewelry brand's low-price silver product became popular in Japan in the 1990s, high school students started to wear it en masse. But this soured the appetite of many its older, more affluent shoppers, causing Tiffany to pull back from the category in Japan.

"A very broad demographic range can sometimes point to the lack of focus of a concept, which is typically less appealing to the consumer base," Lejuez said.

On the flip side, TJX — which has gained traction among millennial shoppers — and Lululemon — which is expanding its younger-facing ivivva brand — could stand to gain from expanding their selling windows, Lejuez said. He likened the strategy to that of Victoria's Secret's Pink label, which introduces shoppers to the brand at a younger age.

"While we can't say a broad age range should always correlate to a high multiple/enterprise value for a stock or vice versa, we do believe considering that selling window is important when looking at positives and negatives of a retailer."

Teen retail's overlooked disadvantage (2024)

FAQs

What is the age demographic for Talbots? ›

The most common age range of Talbots employees is 20-30 years. 46% of Talbots employees are between the ages of 20-30 years.

What is the target demographic of Talbots? ›

Meanwhile, Talbots' core demographic, women ages 55 and older, felt the brand had become too “young.” A similar situation occurred at Tiffany, Lejuez said. When the jewelry brand's low-price silver product became popular in Japan in the 1990s, high school students started to wear it en masse.

What age group is Chico's for? ›

Most shoppers likely associate Chico's with baby boomers and Generation X, given the company's marketing frequently features immaculately groomed models over the age of 30. But you may be surprised to learn the apparel retailer has been steadily gaining a following among millennials and Gen Z.

What age range is J Jill for? ›

J. Jill's target audience is also a bit older than that of comparable brands, centered on 45- to 60-year-olds.

Is Talbots financially stable? ›

Talbots. Women's clothing store Talbots is among apparel retailers at risk. The company is facing sector challenges, as many consumers have turned away from malls amid the pandemic. Talbots doesn't have much cash on hand, and it's debt is coming due soon, analysts said.

What is Talbots known for? ›

Talbots began from an inspired commitment to provide women with timely and timeless style, extraordinary quality, and memorable service. We are the original New England lifestyle brand for women who love looking well put together, with sizes for every body.

What are the target market age groups? ›

Age segmentation means focusing on the age range most valuable to your product or service. Marketing demographic age brackets are usually 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, and 65 and older.

Who wears Chico's? ›

Chico's core customer is 45 years and older. But the number of women in the 45-64 year age group will decline 3% from 2015 to 2025, while those over 65 years (i.e. Baby Boomers) will be the fastest-growing segment of women, expected to rise 36% by 2025, according to the latest Census projections.

What age is big kid clothing? ›

Children's Clothing Size Categories

Baby (Preemie, 0-24 months) Toddler (2T-6T) Little Kid (4-6X) Big Kid or Tween (7-16)

How old is junior clothing? ›

Children and kids sizing is roughly based on their age. Junior sizing is for ages 7 (about) and up while kid sizing is for ages 7 and under.

What age group is the loft clothing for? ›

"There's really something for everything at Loft," Horowitz said, "that we don't specifically target [anyone, like,] 'we have to get the 25 to 34 year olds. ' It's really about that connection with her at an individual level." "Her" is the Loft girl.

Why is banana republic so expensive? ›

What's behind these high prices? One reason is that many of the items in a Banana Republic clothing store are made with high-quality materials. For example, a shirt made from cotton will wear better and be less likely to shrink in the wash than a shirt made from synthetic fabric.

Is J. Jill owned by Talbots? ›

Wholly Owned Subsidiary of The Talbots, Inc. The J. Jill Group Inc., purchased by The Talbots, Inc., in 2006, is an upscale specialty marketer of women's apparel, accessories, and gifts under the J. Jill brand.

What are the demographic groups by age? ›

Generations defined by name, birth year, and ages in 2023
GenerationsBornCurrent Ages
Millennials1981 – 199627 – 42
Gen X1965 – 198043 – 58
Boomers II (a/k/a Generation Jones)*1955 – 196459 – 68
Boomers I*1946 – 195469 – 77
3 more rows
Jan 19, 2023

What are the demographics of Talbots Corner? ›

What is the population of Talbot's Corner? There are 5,033 residents in Talbot's Corner, with a median age of 35. Of this, 48.04% are males and 51.96% are females. US-born citizens make up 91.91% of the resident pool in Talbot's Corner, while non-US-born citizens account for 3.12%.

What are the market demographic age ranges? ›

Age segmentation means focusing on the age range most valuable to your product or service. Marketing demographic age brackets are usually 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, and 65 and older.

What is the age range for demographics? ›

It is common in demography to split the population into three broad age groups: children and young adolescents (under 15 years old) the working-age population (15-64 years) and. the elderly population (65 years and older)

What age are millennials? ›

Gen Y: Gen Y, or Millennials, were born between 1981 and 1994/6. They are currently between 25 and 40 years old (72.1 million in the U.S.)

What are the 7 main demographic characteristics? ›

The common variables gathered in demographic research include age, sex, income level, race, employment, location, homeownership, and level of education.

Why are millennials called millennials? ›

Millennials are a demographic cohort or age group, also known as Generation Y. They're called millennials because they became adults around the time of the millennium.

What happened to Talbots? ›

Effective today, we've decided to temporarily close all of our stores in order to help protect our communities and contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Is Talbots in danger of closing? ›

Talbots is the first to close up shop.

According to the spokesperson, the clothing store's lease is up at the end of January, and the company has chosen not to renew it.

Who do advertisers target the most? ›

For decades, the 18-to-34 age group has been considered especially valuable to advertisers. It's the biggest cohort, overtaking the baby boomers in 2015, and 18 to 34s are thought to have money to burn on toys and clothes and products, rather than the more staid investments of middle age.

What age group buys the most? ›

U.S. digital buyer distribution 2020, by age group

Millennials aged 25 to 34 years were the largest group of digital buyers in the United States.

What age group makes up the largest amount of sales? ›

Sales Person Age
Sales Person YearsPercentages
40+ years49%
30-40 years18%
20-30 years28%
Sep 9, 2022

What is 25 to 34 age group called? ›

1 Millennials are defined as persons born between 1981 and 1997. In some parts of the report, special focus is given to younger millennials, ages 18-24, and older millennials, ages 25-34, as these groups represent different stages of the young adult cycle.

What are Stage 5 demographics? ›

Answer: entry into Stage 5 of the Demographic Transition Model (DTM) – theoretically. In Stage 5 of the DTM a country experiences loss to the overall population as the death rate becomes higher than the birth rate. The negative population growth rate is not an immediate effect however.

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