By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Seven years after the millennium baby boom swept the globe in 2000, the ``new century'' boys and girls, of which 637,000 were Korean born, are grabbing attention again _ this time as an up and coming consumer crowd.
As these millennium babies are now turning seven or eight, local retailers say many of them are getting ready for elementary school, which prompts them to kick off a more active consumption pattern.
``We've been seeing a notable sales jump in fall clothes and school supplies,'' said Kang Jae-koo, a children's department merchandiser for online retailer Interpark, adding that the wide variety of selections are popular among parent shoppers.
Ted Kim of retail giant GS Home Shopping agreed, ``Clothes, toys, imported luxury goods for kids and so much more are selling well.''
He said sales of children's goods at GS e-Shop, the nation's No. 1 Internet shopping site, have nearly doubled compared to last year.
``What stands out among these millennium baby parent shoppers is that they go for high-end goods,'' said Kim. ``It's like going `all-in' for that one child because most of them just have that one baby.''
While the new trend has been taking shape over time, retailers said the upcoming ``Chuseok'' (Korean thanksgiving) holidays brought about a sudden sales boom as well.
``Children's ``hanbok'' (traditional Korean costume) has been on sale since last week and it's already been selling the best among hanbok of all ages,'' said Interpark spokeswoman Lee Eun-young. ``We're seeing a 10 percent jump since last year, but the number is expected to go higher as the promotion period progresses.''
And the same goes for GS e-Shop, where the children's hanbok sales doubled compared to last year.
``Outfits for seven- to eight-year-olds take up about 40 percent of total sales,'' said Kim, as he explained that more retailers are targeting the new century babies for stronger sales.
While many industry observers have noted that the millennium baby businesses haven't materialized yet, retail experts suggest that the recent figures may be an introduction.
``Of course it's nothing like the baby boomer generation, but millennium babies certainly have the potential to rise as a powerful consumer group,'' said marketing consultant Lee Hyo-taek.