Reproduction Mania to Overtake Retail

In case you hadn't noticed, everyone and their mother is pregnant these days. Seriously. I have friends giving birth every month from now through September. What's up with that--was there some type of blackout I missed? While the baby boom may mean all my friends are going away for at least 18 years, it also means bigger biz for baby-focused retailers.

In fact, it's not just my friends reproducing. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that in 2007 alone 4,299,000 babies were born, up from 4,185,000 in 2006. And 2006 had seen the largest baby boom in 50 years. Wowza!

Motherhood Maternity released a press release celebrating the 2006 increased stats (and why wouldn't they?!), including a report that 34 percent of all pregnant women are in their 30s. Disposable income anyone? These high birth rates by a sophisticated demographic mean a larger customer base for maternity wear, baby clothes, accessories, furniture--ven home sales. But, that's just thinking short-term.

Babies grow up to be pre-teens, who have an insatiable desire to buy clothes for brand purposes only, hang out in malls inventing the next form of American slang, and consume, consume, consume. It gets worse--or better depending on how you look at it--as the "baby" grows into a teenager with needs for a car, even better clothes, cell phones and gobs of accessories.

So, stop worrying about the recession. As long as our society keeps popping out babies at this rate, there's nothing to worry about--except for maybe the environment, but that's a whole other story. Babies, pre-teens and teenagers could care less about cash on hand,  they have needs. Needs the retail community and parents are all to happy to fulfill.

Is everyone in your inner circle having a baby? Have some of your own mind-blowing statistics to share? Leave a comment here.

--Heather Strang

Comments

[Lynnette Braillard]

This is sooo the truth. I have six friends who have had babies in the last two months or will be having babies between now and September. It is crazy! The funny part is that some of the them were the last people I thought that would end up pregnant or EVEN think about kids. Hopefully, I won't catch it : )