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Clothing Stores Rediscover Boomers

USA Today, 9/12/08

Abstract:

In recent years, as more middle-age women have tried to dress more youthfully, retailers have been flummoxed about how to respond. Most have floundered in their bid to attract those who don't want to dress like either their daughters or their mothers.

The clothes that were pitched to the 40-plus set barely evolved, and the hotter styles threatened to leave many looking downright embarrassed. In their zeal to lure big-spending teens and twentysomethings, many stores seemed to forget that many baby boomer women favor clothes that blend the traditional and the stylish.

Now, with middle-age customers deserting them for youthfully focused clothiers — or giving up shopping altogether — stores have been fighting back. They're trying, belatedly, to offer hipper and more youthful apparel without alienating those women who prefer more classic clothing.

The stores' success has been fitful at best. Saks Fifth Avenue's attempt to aim young fell flat a few years ago. Two favorite midlife brands largely went away: Liz Claiborne shuttered Sigrid Olsen and is turning Dana Buchman into a store brand for Kohl's so it can focus on its more cutting-edge labels, including Juicy Couture and Lucky Brand jeans. Talbots, Chico's and Ann Taylor have seen sales steadily erode, too.

Sure, hip stores such as H&M and Forever 21 have managed to sell to young women and occasionally, their moms. But many baby boomers have felt left out. What's a forty- or fiftysomething woman to do if she isn't ready to shop at Coldwater Creek with her own mother but feels too mature for spaghetti straps and miniskirts?

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