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Peek
No : 17
Nov.
12, 2003
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Hi!
Christmas is round the corner. And Christmas tree shippers are bracing
themselves for brisk sales ahead. The Marketspeek team delved into
this segment to bring up interesting factors governing this highly
seasonal activity.
All this, after our habitual peek at the economy.
Chain store sales rose 3.2% in October. This is a dip over the 5.9%
growth achieved the previous month. Discounters fared better, while
apparel retailers were the losers.
Despite the slowdown in automobile sales, non-revolving debt surged
ahead leading to a robust consumer credit outstanding at $15.1 billion
in September.
The wholesale
trade report mirrored the upbeat market mood the last week, with
both sales and inventories posting modest gains.
Happy
peeking!
Editor
Marketspeek |
| Week's
Peek |
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Christmas Trees - Plenty of Promise
Surprisingly,
25% American households don't buy a Christmas tree during
the season.
- Come
Christmas and nearly 33 million real Christmas trees are
sold in the U.S. About 95 % of these are sold directly from
the tree farms. Only 1% of them is offloaded through other
channels like Internet, direct mail and shipped mail order.
- The
average height of a Christmas tree sold in retail is 6 feet.
While the growing time for Christmas trees is around 7 years,
it takes nearly 15 years for a tree to gain this height.
- In
recent years, the share of fake (plastic trees) Christmas
trees has been on the rise. Last Christmas, close to 70%
of the trees displayed was fake.
- From
55% in 1999, the share of fake trees displayed has risen
to 70% in 2002.
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Vital Statistics
- The
leading Christmas tree producers in the U.S. are Oregon,
North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Washington and Wisconsin.
Oregon, the largest producer, harvests more than 8.3 million
trees each year.
- The
most favored trees are:
Balsam Fir
Douglas Fir
Fraser Fir
Noble Fir &
Scotch Pine.
- Michigan,
though ranked fourth in production of real Christmas trees,
grows the largest variety (13) of trees in the U.S.
- About
15,000 Christmas tree growers in the U.S. hire over 100,000
people, either as part-time or full-time employees.
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Christmas tree industry - Small ideas, big growth
- The most
commonly cited reasons among households for not buying a Christmas
tree during the season are:
(1) Didn’t feel like having one and
(2) Not home for Christmas.
Interestingly, 25% of the households don’t buy trees. If
the industry can initiate efforts to make this segment feel the
need, it could see a significant market expansion.
- Another section
of people cite they are either too busy or find tree-buying a
cumbersome task. The industry could work towards simplifying the
purchase process and make post-purchase maintenance easy. It could
also lay focus on extending logistical support during disposal
of trees.
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| Wish
I were |
Lifeline Systems, Inc. - Dropping a line to success
When sociologist Andrew and his wife, Susan, launched personal emergency
response equipment that allows patients to reach out for help during
an emergency, all they had was an idea they thought would work.
There was a niche market waiting to be tapped. A market where users
were highly motivated as it was a matter of life and death for them.
Sure enough, older patients and others with disabilities and chronic
illnesses were delighted to strap this system onto wrist or wear
it around the neck. The help button, on activation, would dial the
local response center, which arranged for help almost immediately.
Lifeline Systems, Inc, Andrew’s company founded in 1974, sought
funds for its working capital. Few small business investment companies
(SBICs), First Capital Corporation of Boston, Kitty Hawk Capital,
Inc, Massachusetts Capital Corporation and Transatlantic Capital
Corporation provided nearly $ 1.22 million till December 1980.
Due to the heavy investment in Research and Development, Lifeline
Systems, Inc incurred losses in the initial years. But, thanks to
the trust SBICs had in this company, it now employs a large workforce
and has turned public.
For further reading:
http://www.nasbic.org/success/stories/lifeline.cfm
http://www.quantum.com/NR/rdonlyres/D9BF077F-10C3-444F-A3A2-71E05B70D82A/1039/lifeline.pdf
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030916/165887_1.html
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| BrandFact |
Hertz
was started in 1918 by Walter Jacobs to rent out Ford Model
T cars. .
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| This
Week that Age |
| 7th
November, 1876 - Albert H. Hook of New York City
patented the cigarette manufacturing machine.
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