Who are you buying for?

It’s trade show time again, which means you’re busy making that buying list and checking it twice. But before you lace up your walking shoes and hit the floor, take a moment to re-evaluate who you’re purchasing for. Chances are it has changed dramatically in the last few years.

The ‘average American household’ no longer exists. According to a report in Advertising Age, new Census Bureau data finds no clear majority in household types, but hints at housing growth to come. Single-living is all the rage . . .

• The number of U.S. married couples with children has not changed in over 40 years. Now, as in 1967, there are 24.6 million of them.
• One-person households, at 31.4 million, are significantly more numerous than married couples with children and now make up 27 percent of all households.

McMansions are a thing of the past. The Great Recession has resulted in a new vision for the ideal American home. Recently seen in USA Today…

• The median home size has dropped to about 2,100 square-feet and more than one-third of Americans say their ideal home size is actually under 2,000 square-feet, according to a survey by real-estate site Trulia.
• Good news for outdoor living! Architects are using different tricks to make a home feel bigger—like including vistas with a direct line of sight to an outdoor space.

Women’s buying power continues to rise. Young women—a demographic that garden centers need to capture—continue to up their personal equity. From Time magazine…

• A new analysis of 2,000 communities by a market research company shows that in 147 out of 150 of the biggest cities in the U.S., the median full-time salaries of young women are 8% higher than those of the guys in their peer group.

Yep. Times they are a changing. Are you ready?