2011 shaping up as staycation kind of a year

0

Brookstone, which specializes in retail items of all sorts that are useful in and around the home, and that you might not find anywhere else, thinks this may be a good year for the type of items it sells. It has done a survey indicating that many will find their 2011 entertainment right at home.


According to Brookstone, 63% of the people it surveyed are placing a higher preference on wining, dining and entertaining at home. This is as opposed to heading out and spending money at a restaurant.

Additionally, 30% are exhibiting a preference not only for staying at home, but for upgrading their outdoor space while they’re at it.

Brookstone is betting that the combination of consumers planning to entertain at home, and spruce up their property, particularly the outdoor portion, will translate into a banner year for merchandise useful in holding events at home centered on an outdoor grill.

“Every spring, consumers renew their yards, patios and pools to prepare for summer entertaining and outdoor living,” said Ron Boire, Brookstone CEO. And this could be a particularly good one.

RBR-TVBR observation: What’s good for Brookstone in this case is good for its competitors too, and is bad for restaurants and other travel-related businesses. Even though we tend to take research such as this with a hefty shake of salt, it does suggest money to be made from outdoor/lawn retailers, and a need for restaurants to run enough ads to make sure they get their share of what might be a lean dining-out summer.