Situation Report

TO the extent that living can be expressed in numbers, black consumers occupy a sizable slice of American life. Last year the nation's 22,727,000 blacks spent more than $35 billion on goods and services--only slightly less than the 21,007,000 citizens (the total population) of Canada.

Social restraints on blacks greatly influence what they buy. Given a hard time buying suburban homes, many blacks find compensatory status in owning impressive cars. Clothing is another available outlet for funds; among Americans with incomes of $7,500 and above, blacks spend 45% more on apparel and 23% more on shoes than whites. Economic necessity prompts blacks to spend proportionately more on food, soft drinks and household furnishings--and less on medical care, car maintenance and books.

Travel is a relatively new but fast-growing pastime for blacks, who now spend well over $500 million a year on vacations. Outside the Deep South, few places these days are closed to blacks with enough money to pay their way. Restaurants are open, as are most hotels. Still, blacks feel unwelcome in many U.S. resorts. The more affluent (those with $7,500-$15,000 incomes) are spending anywhere from $500 to $1,500 on two-week vacations abroad. One Southern travel agency alone reports that over 500 blacks from its community have already signed up for round-trip tickets to Expo '70. This year Pan American is sponsoring West African tours, packaged by the country's leading black travel agency, Henderson's in Atlanta.

In fashion, blacks number only 3 out of the 50 or so "name" designers, although 10% of the models at Manhattan agencies are black (compared with 3% just two years ago). And while black women spent more than $60 million for cosmetics and $48 million on hair preparations last year (white women spent close to $1 billion in each category), the figures are changing. While there have always been special products aimed at the black woman, until five years ago there was no complete line of specifically black beauty products. Today there are four. The Barbara Walden quality line alone grossed $7,000 two years ago, is expected to rack up close to $500,000 this year.

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