"Man, Oh Man!"

As the U.S. population has grown, it has shifted from the cities to the suburbs. In Chicago last week, Sears, Roebuck's Retail Sales Manager Clarence C. Choyce told an admen's convention just how big the shift has been, and what it means in terms of changing markets. A few Choyce words:

"A study of 32 of the metropolitan areas . . . showed that in the central cities of 27 of these areas, the number of retail stores had decreased by as much as 20%. Increases in the number of retail outlets in the suburbs, however, were as great as 67.6% . . . Certainly this movement to the suburbs means more automobiles, more mileage per car and more multiple-car families ... I will leave it to your imagination to think of what it means in terms of automotive home workshops, sporting goods, lawnmowers, garden tools, casual clothing . . . Furthermore, this suburbia is pointing the way to the next development, which is .the sundown farmer and his demand for the small power tractor with its many pieces of ingenious extra equipment . . .

"Married couples today are having far more second, third, fourth and fifth children. Just for the record, 1953 v. 1940 -shows us 90% more second children per family, 85% more third children, 60% more fourth children and 15% more fifth children . . . We have 65% more children under five years of age and 50% more between five and nine . . ." The combination of bigger families and suburban living, reminded Choyce, has opened up a whole new retail field--the "do-it-yourself" market. "The mother of this large family in suburbia wants her family to dress well. Maybe the upswing in sewing-machine and washing-machine sales indicates that she is doing more of her own work than was the case a while back. She wants harmony in her home decorating and cannot afford your interior decorator. Plumbing, painting, electrical work, wall and floor tile, car service and what have you, all feel the influence of this desire and need for 'do it yourself.' " Concluded Choyce: "Man, oh man, think what this means in the sale of goods!"

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