TEEN SHOPPING PATTERNS REVEALED; SURVEY SHOWS NIKE THE COOLEST BRAND, OLD NAVY THE FAVORITE RETAILER.(study by Teenage Research Unlimited)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

Daily News Record, April, 2002 by BERMUDEZ, ANDREA

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- The best way to penetrate the teen market successfully is to know what kind of teen you're dealing with. That was the advice of Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU), a market research firm that presented the results of a survey at the Fairchild Teens & Tweens conference here last week.

According to the findings, 12-year-olds aspire to be 17-year-olds, Old Navy is the top retailer among teens aged 13-18, and if price were a non-issue, most said they would prefer to shop at Abercrombie & Fitch.

"To them, 17-year-olds look like they have it made -- they can drive now and maybe their skin has cleared up," said Michael Wood, TRU's vice-president, adding that 17- and 18-year-olds aspire to be 20 -- "less responsibility than a...