National Awards of Landscape Excellence featured in this issue
Green Industry News Winter 2014 Vol. 23 Issue 1
Celebrating Excellence
Look inside for award winning projects
What’s inside: Greetings from the President •
Call before you dig •
Experience Ireland •
NAPPO acknowledges contributions of Bruce McTavish •
Buying boxwood this spring? Know your supplier! •
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Standing on the shoulders of giants
Edengrove Landscaping Ltd.
Are Gen X and Y really different from Boomers? Jean Dumas and Frank Zaunscherb Considering that Canada’s 8 million plus Baby Boomer consumers (aged 49 to 69 years in 2014) are gradually reducing their annual purchases in the ornamental horticulture marketplace, most garden retailers and service providers understand they will need to place greater emphasis on Generation X and Y consumers.
Gen X and Y are two distinct age groups that have been repeatedly studied and effectively targeted by other industries. While slightly different breakdowns exist, the following are most commonly used:
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Gen X: Born between 1965-1980 (age 34 to 48 years, in 2014), approximately 7.4 million in Canada; Gen Y: Born between 1981-1995 (age 19 to 33 years, in 2014), slightly over 5 million in Canada.
Do Gen X and Y consumers hold the potential to drive important growth for the ornamental industry in upcoming years in the way that Boomers have been doing for the past two decades? The answer is maybe, and we will examine why. Continued page 14...