Retailers benefit from ethnic design and merchandising strategies

In April, I blogged about a finding from WSL Strategic Retail's 11th biannual study, How America Shops. Since WSL's 10th study, the amount spent by African-American women on home decor has increased by 6% compared to decreases of 21% for Caucasian women and 30% for Hispanic women.

WSL Senior Consultant Shilpa Rosenberry advised retailers to take note of the growing spending demographic. “Home retailers and manufacturers should not make the mistake the beauty and fashion industry did by overlooking the preferences of African-American women shoppers,” she said. “African-American women will not settle — they head to the retailer who has the beauty care that suits their hair and skin; clothing stores that capture the styles they wear; and the home retailers who provide home fashion they prefer.”

Another group, the Radio Advertising Bureau, reported that the buying power of African-American women exceeds that of Latinas and Asian women combined, at $450 billion, and is expected to grow to $600 billion in 2008, based on estimates from Packaged Facts and the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth.

Both reports went on to stress the obvious importance of recognizing and marketing to not only this powerful consumer group, but other ethnic groups as well.

A few days later, I was made aware of the work of retail consultant Bill Sands, who has developed visual merchandising programs that do just that.

Sands is the CEO of Ethnicitidesign, a Columbus, Ohio-based firm that grew out of his 20 years of combined experience as a retail consultant and home furnishings retailer. When some of his consulting projects led to work in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, Sands became more interested in ethnic marketing and identified a niche opportunity.

“We saw it as a big hole,” Sands said. “A lack of creative interpretations of a culture, especially in home furnishings and accessories.”

Sands took it to the street in the form of his own retail storefront/gallery, which proved so successful he decided to form his own consulting company. “Our merchandising was able to capture the notion without being so cliché with the look and feel,” he said. It also produced unexpected results in the form of customer traffic, attracting not only African-Americans but a large number of other ethnic and non-ethnic customers.

Sands identifies it as “a level of authenticity that drives people to acceptance of the concept.” And that's the concept he has developed into a consulting design strategy — one based on “organized eclecticism” instead of the ethnic collections traditionally presented by manufacturers and retailers to their clients.

Accessorization is a big part of the look — textiles, decorative pieces, lighting and lamp collections identified as “fusion points” that connect the existing collections of a furniture manufacturer or retailer to a stronger cultural component or mindset.

The result is, for some, a fresh take on some familiar classics. For others, it's a welcome infusion of familiarity that could strengthen the appeal of some old classics.

Whether the appeal of ethnic design lies in the visuals or the cultural connection, our country's changing demographics certainly give reason to pay closer attention to such marketing concepts. Plus, if history is any indicator, the presidential election could also spark a few new fashion trends.

That Barack and Michelle Obama have both been named to international best-dressed lists (Esquire and Vanity Fair) certainly won't diminish the couple's style-setting capacity. Sands agrees that Senator and Mrs. O's cultural threads could inspire a greater interest in ethnic design themes, whether he's elected or not. “At the very least,” Sands said, “Barack Obama's candidacy provides the chance to examine a potential president on a whole different level.”

For now, Sands, who started his company in 2000, isn't aware of much competition. “I don't know of anybody — there are some who are doing pieces, some interior design, some product design — but no one taking more of a branding approach,” he said. In addition to visual merchandising, Sands' company also provides assistance with in-store training and seminars.

If you know of other ethnic or multicultural marketing programs, drop a note and tell us about it at homeaccentstoday.com.

*How America Shops-2008 was conducted last October among 1,600 consumers drawn from a representative sample. WL Strategic Retail, a global consulting business founded by Wendy Liebmann, launched its How America Shops studies in 1989 to chart the evolution of American consumer shopping habits and attitudes.

To comment on this story, please write to me at susan.dickenson@reedbusiness.com or share your thoughts on my blog at HomeAccentsToday.com.