Channel Surfing: Lifestyle stores

By Dana French -- Home Accents Today, 4/1/2005

According to Home Accent Today's 2004 Universe Study, lifestyle stores garnered $7.4 billion in retail sales last year, accounting for 11% of the home accent universe. The channel is projected to grow 5% this year, to reach $7.8 billion.

Home Accent Today defines lifestyle stores as retailers that carry accent furniture, portable lamps, area rugs, wall decor, other decorative accessories and soft goods at full price along with some combination of housewares, small appliances, gourmet foods, apparel, jewelry or personal care items. Heavy hitters in the channel include Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, ABC Carpet & Home, Restoration Hardware, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Linens 'N Things and Anthropologie.

Home accents buyers at lifestyle stores come largely from high-income households. Home Accents Today's exclusive Consumer Buying Trends Survey indicates 42% of home accent buyers at lifestyle stores have household incomes of $75,000 or more and 23% have incomes of $100,000 or more. These higher-income households are most likely to purchase wall decor, such as framed prints and mirrors, and soft goods, including decorative pillows, placemats and throws, at lifestyle stores. More than half of households buying wall decor and soft goods have incomes of $75,000 or more.

Nearly half of all lifestyle store buyers are Baby Boomers according to the Consumer Buying Trends survey. Boomers are more likely to purchase photo frames, candleholders, decorative pillows and chairs through the channel.

Consumers currently age 60 or more, belonging to either the Happy Days Generation or Senior Seniors, comprise one-third of lifestyle store buyers. This group is more likely to purchase accent furniture, including chairs, plant stands and end tables, as well as soft goods through the channel.

Generations X and Y, currently between ages 20 and 40, account for 18% of lifestyle store buyers. Generations X and Y most frequently purchase candleholders, lamps, garden accessories and storage items through the channel.

Home accents buyers at lifestyle stores and those that buy at home accent/gift stores are very much alike. In terms of age, the groups are nearly identical. When demographic differences do exist, they are nominal. For example, lifestyle store buyers have slightly higher incomes — 23% of lifestyle buyers have incomes of $100,000 or more, compared with 18% of home accent/gift store buyers. Lifestyle buyers are more likely than home accent/gift store buyers to:

never have been married
live in an apartment or condominium
be an African-American
live in the West.

Photo frames, decorative pillows and photo albums are the top three home accents purchased at lifestyle stores. Nearly four-fifths of households buy three or more photo frames through the channel and spend a median of $25 on their total purchase. For decorative pillows, 39% purchase two and 46% buy three or more. Households buying decorative pillows through the channel spend a median of $30 on their total purchase. With photo albums, 71% of households bought two or more, spending a median of $19.

Accent chairs are also a popular buy at lifestyle stores. Two-thirds of households buy only one chair and spend a median of $300 on their purchase. More than two-fifths of chair buyers have incomes of $75,000 or more and 51% are Baby Boomers. Each group spends more on a chair than the average lifestyle store buyer — a median of $560 for high-income households and a median of $450 for Baby Boomers.

Traditional furniture stores are the top competitors of lifestyle stores when it comes to chairs. Nearly half of the households that purchased a chair at a lifestyle store also shopped for one at a furniture store, with 38% buying one there. Households spent a median of $600 on their total chair purchase at traditional furniture stores.

Vases are also among the most frequently purchased home accents at lifestyle stores. Overall, 68% of households bought only one and spend a median of $25. Nearly half of vase buyers through the channel have incomes of $75,000 or more.

Home Accent Universe

11%	lifestyle store
23%	home accent/gift stores

Sales

	2004 estimated	change 2004 to 2005	2005 projected
lifestyle stores	$7.4 billion	5.0%	$7.8 billion
home accent/gift stores	$14.6 billion	3.1%	$15.0 billion
Source: Home Accents Today 2004 Universe Study

Most frequently purchased home accents

purchased by 20% or more of households	percent of households that purchased home accents at a lifestyle store
frames	43%
decorative pillows	38%
albums	34%
votive/tealight candleholders	30%
framed prints	27%
placemats	25%
candlesticks	25%
chairs	24%
baskets	24%
pillar candleholders	24%
vases	22%
throws	20%

Home accents buyer demographics

	bought any home accent at
	lifestyle store	home accent/gift store
household income
under $30,000	15%	17%
$30,000 – $49,999	20%	21%
$50,000 – $74,999	23%	24%
$75,000 – $99,999	19%	20%
$100,000 or more	23%	18%
generation
Generation Y born 1976–1985	2%	2%
Generation X born 1965–1975	16%	16%
younger Baby Boomers born 1956–1964	20%	22%
older Baby Boomers born 1946–1955	29%	29%
Happy Days Generation born 1936–1945	18%	19%
senior Seniors born 1935 or before	15%	12%
residence type
house	77%	81%
apartment	9%	4%
condominium	9%	7%
mobile home	2%	4%

Shopping factors

Lifestyle store buyers and home accent/gift store buyers are looking for the same things when home accent shopping. Both groups rank style and appearance as the most important factor. Coming in second for both groups is the product's overall quality and color. Durability was also tied for second place among home accent/gift store buyers, but is not as important to lifestyle store buyers. Other differences between the two groups of buyers include:

more important to lifestyle store buyers fashionable clean design unique manufacturer's reputation store reputation basic unusual utilitarian latest style brand

more important to home accent/gift store buyers durability material used

of equal importance to both style and appearance overall quality color price size functionality ease of upkeep care instructions good sales help point-of-sale materials at the store

Framed prints

	bought framed prints at
Amount spent	lifestyle store	home accent/gift store
median	$72	$60
under $20	8%	11%
$20 – $39	17%	14%
$40 – $59	15%	19%
$60 – $99	17%	28%
$100 – $199	25%	14%
$200 or more	18%	14%
number bought
one	58%	30%
two	13%	28%
three or four	17%	28%
more than four	12%	14%
top competitors*
Percent of households that bought framed prints at a lifestyle store and also

	shopped for framed prints at	bought framed prints at	median $ paid
home accent/gift store	40%	30%	$58
off-price retailer	30%	20%	$55
discount department store	25%	25%	$58
direct-to-consumer	15%	10%	$75
department store	10%	5%	$75

Candlesticks

	bought candlesticks at
Amount spent	lifestyle store	home accent/gift store
median	$25	$15
under $10	12%	10%
$10 – $14	15%	32%
$15 – $19	13%	11%
$20 – $29	17%	21%
$30 – $49	18%	5%
$50 – $74	13%	5%
$75 or more	12%	16%
number bought
one	18%	11%
two	44%	39%
three or four	23%	6%
more than four	15%	44%
top competitors*
Percent of households that bought candlesticks at a lifestyle store and also

	shopped for candlesticks at	bought candlesticks at	median $ paid
discount department store	32%	23%	$32
off-price retailer	26%	19%	$30
direct-to-consumer	23%	23%	$18
home accent/gift store	16%	16%	$38
traditional furniture store	10%	6%	$75

Vases

	bought vases at
Amount spent	lifestyle store	home accent/gift store
median	$25	$20
under $10	13%	12%
$10 – $19	22%	35%
$20 – $29	21%	18%
$30 – $49	22%	23%
$50 or more	22%	12%
number bought
one	68%	58%
two	23%	32%
three or more	9%	10%
top competitors*
Percent of households that bought vases at a lifestyle store and also

	shopped for vases at	bought vases at	median $ paid
discount department store	38%	31%	$22
off-price retailer	31%	31%	$20
home accent/gift store	23%	19%	$42
traditional furniture store	19%	8%	$75
direct-to-consumer	15%	12%	$38

Chairs

	bought chairs at
Amount spent	lifestyle store	home accent/gift store
median	$400	$300
under $75	19%	23%
$75 – $14	99%	15%
$150 – $299	11%	8%
$300 – $499	17%	16%
$500 – $749	20%	15%
$750 – $999	12%	8%
$1,000 or more	12%	15%
number bought
one	66%	62%
two	24%	15%
three or more	10%	23%
top competitors*
Percent of households that bought chairs at a lifestyle store and also

	shopped for chairs at	bought chairs at	median $ paid
traditional furniture store	47%	38%	$600
direct-to-consumer	38%	31%	$500
home accent/gift store	34%	19%	$500
home improvement center	31%	22%	$280
discount department store	28%	28%	$230
*channels where 10% or more of households shopped

Decorative pillows

	bought decorative pillows at
Amount spent	lifestyle store	home accent/gift store
median	$30	$25
under $15	20%	19%
$15 – $24	21%	25%
$25 – $39	17%	32%
$40 – $49	15%	12%
$50 – $99	15%	6%
$100 or more	12%	6%
number bought
one	15%	29%
two	39%	53%
three or four	22%	12%
more than four	24%	6%
top competitors*
Percent of households that bought decorative pillows at a lifestyle store and also

	shopped for decorative pillows at	bought decorative pillows at	median $ paid
direct-to-consumer	16%	11%	$36
department store	20%	18%	$40
off-price retailer	24%	24%	$30
discount department store	36%	31%	$40

About the survey

This exclusive consumer data originates from the responses of 31,505 households to a survey conducted in December 2002 and January 2003. Home Accents Today had National Family Opinion poll 50,000 U.S. households to examine home furnishings shopping and purchasing patterns in 2002 and buying plans for 2003. Because of the large sample size, combined with a response rate of 63%, and a respondent profile closely matching the demographics of all U.S. households, survey data can be projected nationally with a margin of error of plus or minus less than 1%.

In September and October 2003, Home Accents Today sent a follow-up survey to those households that purchased in 2002 or planned to purchase in 2003 home accents. The 1,004 households that responded to the survey (a 59% response rate) closely match the demographics of all home furnishings buying households in the United States. This means results can be projected nationally with a margin of error of plus or minus 3%.

Terms

Households All those living together in one housing unit, including family members or unrelated individuals.

Household income Combined income of all household members.

Median Divides the responses into two equal portions, half above and half below the median amount.

Distribution Channels

Department stores Full-line operations carrying a variety of merchandise, including national and regional stores. Examples include JCPenney, Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Sears.

Discount department stores General merchandise retailers, including national, regional and local stores. Examples include Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, ShopKo, Meijer and Fred Meyer.

Direct-to-consumer Retailers who sell primarily through catalogs, television, the Internet and/or home parties. Examples include QVC, Lillian Vernon, PartyLite, Red Envelope and Longaberger Baskets.

Home accent/gift stores Home accents and/or gifts are the total business or largest category. Most are local or regional companies.

Home improvement centers Includes Home Depot, Lowe's, EXPO Design Center and Sears' The Great Indoors.

Lifestyle stores Retailers that carry accent furniture, portable lamps, area rugs, wall decor, other decorative accessories and soft goods at full price and some combination of housewares, small appliances, gourmet foods, apparel, jewelry and/or personal care items. Examples include Anthropologie, Bed Bath & Beyond, Crate & Barrel, IKEA, Kirkland's, Linens 'N Things, Pier 1 and Pottery Barn.

Off-price retailers General merchandise retailers selling at prices below department store and specialty retailers. Examples include Stein Mart, T.J. Maxx, Tuesday Morning and Big Lots, as well as dollar stores such as Dollar General and Family Dollar.

Traditional furniture stores Furniture is the total business or single largest product category. Includes Ethan Allen, Rooms To Go and Havertys, as well as other local, regional and national furniture stores or chains.

The research was analyzed by Home Accent Today's research department, led by Senior Research Specialist Dana French and Director of Market Research Kay Anderson.

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Channel Surfing: Lifestyle stores

By Dana French -- Home Accents Today, 4/1/2005

Home Accent Universe

Shopping factors

Framed prints

Candlesticks

Vases

Chairs

Decorative pillows

About the survey

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