Shopping lifestyle: much more than just buying

My name is Caron, and I?m a shopaholic.

Well, that?s what my husband calls it.

I prefer to call myself a ?recreational shopping enthusiast,? a term coined by Michael Guiry and Richard Lutz in a 2000 study they did on recreational shopper identity.

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The academic study, ?Recreational Shopper Identity: Implications of Recreational Shopping for Consumer Self-Definition,? was submitted to the Journal of Retailing but has yet to be published.
According to Guiry and Lutz, recreational shopping is ?shopping activity that is characterized by the shopper experiencing gratification from the shopping process per se, either in conjunction with or independent of the acquisition of goods and services.?

That?s me. There?s few things I enjoy more than an afternoon at a well-appointed mall or ?shopping district? (e.g., Palm Desert?s El Paseo Drive, Chicago?s Magnificent Mile or that stretch of Northern Boulevard in Manhasset, N.Y., known as Miracle Mile where I used to hang out as a teenager) walking around, trying on stuff, a coffee break to schmooze with friends or watch people and occasionally actually purchasing something.

Of course, this tendency runs in my family. When I was a kid my mom would often treat me and my sisters to a day of shopping. Whether we bought something or not was secondary to the sophisticated ladies lunch at Lord & Taylor. (Back in the day L&T was a very exclusive department store, before it went mainstream as a May Co. property in 1986.)

A typical day of mother-daughter or sister-sister bonding still includes plenty of quality shopping time, although the ladies lunch has devolved into a low-cal snack in a Starbucks or equivalent.
Because of my enthusiasm for shopping a lot of my friends turn to me for retail advice. Lorna usually can?t make a big-ticket purchase without a vote of confidence from me. The $5,000 red leather sofa now gracing her downtown Boulder Victorian home is a bit over the top for anyone, but it fits that small living room perfectly. After a year of trips to furniture stores to sit, stretch out and use our imaginations, we finally found a sofa that worked. I told her she had to have it, and now she does. Even her husband loves it, a tall order.

Michelle is my shopping soul mate. A native Long Islander like me, Michelle also has the shopping gene. The two of us discovered the joy of J. Jill together.

As ?women of a certain age? not only do we pine for the sophisticated ladies lunch with mom, we have very few places to buy apparel we want to wear.

It?s because few retailers target our demographic. According to a study by Credit Suisse First Boston, the 13- to 24-year-old female cohort has the most choices ? some 300 stores per 1 million shoppers. Those 25 to 34 have 250. For women 35 to 44, there are about 80 stores. Beyond that age it drops to about 35.

Things aren?t looking up, either. In 2013 the kids will have more than 400 stores, while those targeted towrd the ?mature woman? might reach 50.

But even if there?s not much I really want to buy, my shopping hobby must be gaining more adherents since the folks developing and redeveloping shopping areas from old-fashioned regional malls to the latest ?lifestyle centers? are gearing their properties to satisfy recreational shoppers.

FlatIron Crossing was designed to ?enhance the overall shopping experience,? says Heather Drake, the mall?s senior marketing manager.

Drake, who didn?t know malls had marketing managers when she studied marketing in college, says as a self-described recreational shopping enthusiast landing the FlatIron job was a dream come true.

She gushes about everything from the Aqua Massage near the food court to the valet parking. And she and I share a passion for Nordstrom Court, the seating area just outside the Nordstrom cafe where there?s nothing finer than sipping an Ice Storm, a frozen coffee drink far superior to a Frappaccino, and watching your fellow travelers.

Even Westcor, the folks redeveloping Boulder?s Crossroads Mall into Twenty Ninth Street are targeting recreational shoppers.

?We think the shopping experience will be entertainment in and of itself,? says Bob Williams, senior vice president of leasing.

I certainly can?t wait to ride my bike to Twenty Ninth Street and check out the scene, sift through the sale racks (hopefully at a J. Jill) and linger over a cup of coffee at one of the yet-to-be-named cafes. (Note to Westcor: Dudes, where?s my Peet?s?)

Contact Caron Schwartz Ellis at (303) 440-4950 or csellis@bcbr.com.