Manufacturers see lucrative market in senior-friendly designs

From the Wall Street Journal:

Manufacturers see sound business reasons for redesigning products to serve baby boomers, with major appliances and plumbing fixtures being retooled to accommodate arthritic hands and forgetful minds. The movement seems to make good business sense, as this generation is “aging in place,” fixing up existing homes rather than moving to assisted living communities.

But marketing these senior-friendly features before they’re needed requires a delicate touch. “The older consumers don’t want to be treated like they’re ready for retirement,” says Mark Delaney, director of the home-industry sector at NPD Group, a market research firm.

There are 78 million U.S. baby boomers, and roughly one-third will be 62 years old or older by 2013, says AARP.

Included is a list of aging-friendly products that could also be helpful for people with other types of disabilities.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 3:03 pm and is filed under business, elderly, News_2_Use. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.