Men Drawn To The Great Indoors - Brief Article

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Jan, 2000 by Joe Tedino

LEISURE DOLLARS | INTERACTIVE SHOPPING is helping to make new malls a ball.

A ONE-DAY RAIN delay at the UAW-GM Quality 500 stock-car race in Charlotte, N.C., in October had motor-mad racing fans itching for some alternative entertainment. Would they hit a sports bar? Maybe a bowling alley? Actually, many of the men went shopping--not typically a testosterone-charged pastime. But that's starting to change.

The Nascar fans, for example, headed to Concord Mills mail, a nearby "shop ping and entertainment destination" built with the male animal in mind. For $8 a pop, they raced on a virtual-reality track for about six minutes against 13 other Jeff Gordon wannabes in 1/8-scale replicas of the top cars on the Nascar circuit. When the cyberdust settled, the racers bought cool gear, such as Nascar-emblazoned hats and T-shirts for $20 to $28.

Retailers that provide activities such as stock-car-racing simulations, snowboarding and home theater are part of a growing trend that seeks to appeal to men through "interactive shopping." It's a concept that combines hands-on product demonstrations with retailing, and mixes specialty shops with theme restaurants and entertainment, in the hope that men will visit with their families, stay awhile and return often.

Comfort zone. Customers at the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, which opened in Concord Mills in September, typically spend about three hours in the store. Who can blame them? With a golf putting green, archery range, indoor waterfall and 22,000-gallon aquarium, the word heard most in the store is wow. At the waterfall, customers can try out bait-cast and fly reels. A big hit with Carolina bass fishermen is Shimano's Calcutta reel ($199 to $260), which is made of one piece of forged aluminum and boasts a variable brake system. "If you are uncomfortable with a product, you won't buy it or use it," says store manager David McDonnell.

At Sun & Ski Sports, a 25-foot-high natural-rock climbing wall has become a magnet for children and other climbers. A hot item at the Concord store: the Gregory pack, a U.S.-made backpack with an internal frame that goes for $100 to $159. "It's a bit bigger than your average pack and more rigid--it's an adventure pack," says Mark Holloway, who runs the store.

Pushing the limit. Florida surfers looking to catch air in the Rocky Mountains this winter are carving up the indoor ski deck at Universal Ski & Sport Outlet of Miami before heading west. Students use specially coated skis and snowboards on a white carpeted conveyor belt owned and operated by Toni Lafko, a ski jumper and former Olympic judge. For $42 an hour, powder lovers can try new boots--such as the Technica Duo 90 for $250, or the Nordica Trend and Next lines, which retail for $199 to $350--on the "hill" before leaving for Banff or Park City. "We don't make it easy for them on the deck," Lafko says of students on the 14-degree slope that runs up to 22 miles per hour. "I take them to the limit."

Getting more men involved in shopping may boost sales, but it could squeeze the household budget. "I've overheard wives and girlfriends asking guys for the checkbook before they come in here," says Bass's McDonnell "They're afraid of what might happen."

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CHECK OUT

www.concordmills.com Concord Mills shopping mail

www.sunandski.com Universal Ski & Sport Outlet

www.basspro.com Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World