Reaching Gen-Y shoppers
It started in the book and music departments but is now emerging in the gift sections of Christian retail stores-the re-thinking of a category to increase its appeal to a largely untapped and growing market.

While publishers and music companies have been looking at ways to draw more Generation Y (Gen-Y) shoppers for some time, gift suppliers are only more recently considering the opportunity. And it's a sizable one.

Also known as Millennials, Echo Boomers and twentysomethings, the United States' 57 million-strong 18- to 34-year-olds are recognized as the largest consumer group in the nation's history-but they spend the least amount of their money in Christian retail stores.

One suggested reason for the lack of interest in existing Christian gifts is that many of these Gen-Yers have seen the products that their baby-boomer parents filled their homes with and want nothing to do with them.

"Gift products aren't usually items that promote spiritual growth for the individual," said Cameron Strang, president of Relevant Media Group, which targets 18- to 34-year-olds through its magazine, books and online. "They typically promote trends and cultural Christianity, things this generation has a real distaste for."

Read more in the June 8 issue of Inspirational Gift Trends.

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