HISPANICS HAVE CASH TO SPEND BUT RETAILERS MUST SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE: According to an article in the New York Times, retailers are losing tens of billions of dollars in sales a year by not offering Spanish language toll-free numbers to buy goods. According to Forrester Magazine, “Hispanics have $575 billion in purchasing power and their online population grew 43 percent from 2003 to 2004, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. That makes them the ‘fastest-growing online group.’ The article also says that Hispanics would rather not conduct business in English. “Autobytel, an online automobile retailer, created a Spanish version of its Web site after a survey showed that 84 percent of Hispanic Internet users would conduct automobile research online if the content were presented in Spanish. According to the article,“ 81 percent of the Fortune 500 companies don’t have Spanish content online.

THEY SHOP TILL THEY DROP: According to an article in New York Times, “My Generation: Hope I Shop Before I Get Old,” the 48 million young people born between1965 to 1977 live to shop. It goes on to explain this phenomenon, "Consumption is this generation's currency," shrugs Jane Rinzler Buckingham, whose market research firm, Youth Intelligence, helps big companies understand Generation X. "They don't have government or causes to believe in, so the Gucci bucket hat is their currency instead." If shopping for Gucci hats is our version of the march on Selma, appliance showrooms are our Woodstock.

Reflecting the consuming passion of my generation, the hot new magazines are "magalogs," or shopping catalogs disguised, barely, as magazines. Baby boomers may be reading Architectural Digest (median age: 49) or The New Yorker (53). But Gen Xers prefer Lucky: The Magazine About Shopping (median age: 31) and Domino: The Shopping Magazine for Your Home (35). The Gen X male, who is also occupied by shopping - and by the unwanted hair on his back - has his very own magalog, Cargo.

James Truman, former editorial director at Condé Nast said: "Everything is for sale. There is no point in pretending otherwise. So let's just put the address, the phone number and the Web site under the item and not try to make a hoopla about it signifying this or that. You don't have to get through articles on politics and serious issues. Here's the merchandise."

According to the new American Express Platinum Luxury Survey, “the average Gen Xer now spends 18 percent more on luxury goods than the average baby boomer. Our credit cards are weighing us down like millstones. We're juggling interest-only and adjustable-rate mortgages. To build the great big bathrooms and great big kitchens that define us, we're taking out home-equity loans.”

It appears that this generation is also the one spearheading the renewed interest in HATS. Keep track of this spendthrift group, they can make or break your bottom line, sorry.

According to the Third Annual National Retail Federation 2005 Back-to-College Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, spending has increased 33.8 percent for gadgets, clothing and furnishings. This $34.4 billion spent is more than double what parents of K-12 students will spend on back-to-school. “The $47.8 billion spent on back-to-school and back-to-college merchandise this year will rank second only to the holiday season in seasonal sales.

”Spending on back-to-college merchandise will rise in all tracked categories, with $11.9 billion on textbooks, $8.2 billion on electronics, $3.6 billion on dorm and apartment furnishings, $3 billion on school supplies, $5.7 billion on clothing and $2 billion on shoes. The most sought-after shopping destinations for college students and parents are close to campus, with 59.8% planning purchases at college bookstores. More than half (55.8%) will shop at discounters, 41% at office supply stores, 36% at department stores and 32% online.”