When Wallace Weeks’ mother-in-law’s health began to fail, he and his wife found themselves purchasing items that would make her feel more comfortable when she came to visit.
Weeks and his wife made adjustments to their bathroom and other parts of their home so that his mother-in-law would have the comfort at their home that she has at her own.
Weeks and his wife, who are baby boomers, didn’t mind going out and paying cash for the items.
“Nobody’s going to reimburse me for something for my mother-in-law so those are the types of things that baby boomers do, and I think that many baby boomers don’t think twice about paying cash for a $15 or $50 item,” says Weeks of Weeks Group, a consulting firm in Melbourne, Fla.
The number of people with disabilities will surge in the next 10 years from 10 million to 70 million, says Kyle Smith, owner of Auto and Home Mobility in College Station, Texas. The 76 million baby boomers who were born between 1946 and 1964 are the reason for the expected surplus.
Ray Norton, vice president of sales at Mangar in New Britain, Pa., believes that when boomer’s reach 65 they won’t be dependent on Medicare at all.
“If Medicare says I’m only going to provide a manual wheel chair and they want a power wheel chair, they’ll go out and buy one,” says Norton who stated that he has $1,300 to $1,400 items that sale on a cash basis everyday.
“Not everybody that’s old is poor,” Norton retorted. “Sometimes people assume because you’re 65 or 70 you don’t have any money or you’re totally dependent on Medicare for providing you whatever. That’s just not true. I think it’s going to become more and more the fact as the boomer’s age. “
Boomers have always been catered to, and it’s not going to stop anytime soon, said Karen Bunch, marketing director of EZ In and Out in Winston Salem, N.C.
“They will continue to have their luxuries — that’s something they’re used to,” she said. “They drive every market and I think that’s because the top end of baby boomers are either caring for parents, family members or even a spouse.”
Want to learn more about cash sales? Read the February 2008 issue of HME Business!
