Stores revamp for older shoppers

May 10, 2011 

Listen here. Aired on NPR's Morning Edition.

I'd never thought about this until I started researching this piece: the older we get, the less fun it is to go shopping. Our joints may ache, and we have less energy to negotiate a supermarket or other big-box store. Older people are hardly a new phenomenon, but the sheer number of aging baby boomers finally has retailers thinking about how best to serve an older population. A highlight of this piece was touring a couple of stores with interior designer and gerontologist Rosemary Bakker - she helped me see the shopping experience through completely different eyes. A version of this story also aired on VOA News.

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The elderly are hardly a new trend, but the amount of aging middle-agers lastly has suppliers thinking about how best to serve an mature people.

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Lol, not from my experience oddly, after my mairgare ended, I found everytime I turned around, younger guys were hitting on me. It annoyed me to some degree, because I assumed that they were just looking for sex.However, after a few months, I started to realize that while some of them were just taking shots, some were actually serious, and decided to stop being presumptuous and give them a chance if I found them interesting. Went out with several, ended up getting involved with one for a couple of years, and I ended up having to break things off because he wanted to get married and have kids, and I did not.My brother's wife is 18 years older than him, and we figured they would last a year, if that they've been married for almost 20 years now.I have found that it really, really depends on the people involved. If they have common interests, common values, and similar energy levels and the chemistry is there, they will likely get along. Some people are more mature at 25 than others are at 45 and vice-versa some people have had more life experience at 22 than others at 50, and that makes a huge difference in their outlooks and goals.The younger guys that are interested in older women for relationships tend to give the following explanations about what they see as advantages or attractive about them- more straightforward and direct, less insecure, more focused, more self-aware, more independent, experienced in life and relationships, more settled. I think most younger women who prefer older men find some of the same characteristics important.I think it's more common than it was in the past, and the term cougar amuses me, as I'm sure it does most older women who have actually dated younger guys. It definitely started out as a derogatory term- implying that older women were stalking or preying on younger guys. Lol, most of us who have actually dated younger guys find it hilarious because in 9 out of 10 older woman/younger guy relationships, he was the one doing the chasing. Most women that I know kicked many young guys to the curve without a glance before actually reconsideringwhy they were so quick to assume that young guys were not worth their time. Ultimately, the success of any relationship depends on the compatibility and communication between the people involved no matter what their ages.