Thanks to the two largest generations entering new life stages, and apparently celebrating along the way, specialty retailers say sales of drinkware continue to rise. Consumers between the ages of 25 and 34, otherwise known as Millennials, and Baby Boomers in their 50s and 60s are helping to fuel those sales, retailers say.
Researchers at the NPD Group agree, noting in a recent report that the home categories drove the most growth last year were focused on lifestyle purchase decisions, rather than innovation. “The focus Baby Boomers and Millennials both have on the basics of their new lifestyles is having a tangible effect on the home industry,” says Lora Morsovillo, president of NPD’s home division. “Millennials are starting homes of their own and Boomers are creating a new type of home for themselves as they become empty-nesters and enter retirement.”
The two age groups are apparently quaffing wine as they go about their transitions. While Baby Boomers have the edge, Millennials are catching up according to the Silicon Valley Bank’s Premium Wine Division, which recently reported Millennials (ages 21-37) made up 16 percent of consumers of fine wine (that’s more than $20 a bottle) compared with 41 percent for Baby Boomers (ages 50-67), 32 percent for Generation X (ages 38-49) and 11 percent for the Mature market (68-plus).
“Red and white wine glasses are our top drinkware sellers,” says Vicki Tarbell, owner of The Good Table in Belfast, Maine.
MaryLiz Curtin’s Leon & Lulu store in Clawson, Mich., sees a lot of traffic in drinkware sales. “Those Millennials are a thirsty bunch, by golly,” she says, looking for ways to extend those sales. “I’m thinking the fascination with beer and wine, which are two big trends, is perhaps making them very thirsty the next morning. We can sell them the glasses for the drinks and then the to-go cups for the morning after,” she adds, noting that age group is also partial to beverages of a caffeinated nature.
Anne Dowell, owner of Apron Strings in Hutchinson, Kan., has noticed sales of all sorts of drinkware on the rise in her store. “Bottles, fun mugs and different glasses have always sold well for me,” she says. “I carry Tervis, which while it has slowed in recent years, has always been a good seller.” She also notes that a sort of make your own specialty water bottle is a brewing trend. “I have noticed that the infuser glass water bottles have sold really well with the essential oil crowd,” she adds.
Mary Weldy, president of The Culinary Apple, in Chelan, Wash., notes that barware flourishes thanks to the 30 wineries located in town. “Cocktails are big where we live,” she says, adding that visitors come primed to party. “This is a resort community. We sell a lot of glasses for Moscow Mules and martinis, along with wine glasses.”
And thanks to a local winery, store traffic is up, filled with well-lubricated customers primed to spend money. “We just had a beautiful new tasting room open up downtown. They hold wine tastings and then those folks come up here shopping and they are kind of inclined to spend more,” Weldy says. “Wine tasting definitely influences their behavior.”
For Suzanne Lane, owner of The Gray Goose in Mystic, Conn., barware is booming. And it isn’t just wine. “The bar side is very big for us,” she says. “And that’s because people are drinking and they are into interesting drinks.” Lane says barware sales are determined by age, with the Millennial drinkers steering away from stemware into more hardcore drinking glasses. Think Mad Men more than Sideways.
“Young people are buying cocktail glasses and shot glasses; they see what is happening at trendy bars and are looking to bring that into their homes for their own parties,” she explains. “They like craft beers, so they buy beer glasses, as well as drinkware, cocktail shakers and accessories for specialty cocktails.” That trend doesn’t carry over on the Baby Boomer side of the aisle as they have other challenges, she notes. “The older crowd is looking for stemware where the stem is low,” she says. “So they don’t knock them over.”
