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Catering for the tall market.
Businesses are short-changing
themselves by overlooking the needs of the statuesque.
And by making basic shopping a tall order for the vertically blessed, they are
forcing customers to shop offshore.
A survey in Australia by Choice found tall people had more problems than being
cramped in small cars and scalped by ceiling fans.
Low changing-room doors turned tall shoppers into peep-show stars and short beds
left their toes exposed.
"We've heard from tall people who have resigned themselves to paying more for
exit-row seats, lying with their feet hanging over the end of hospital beds,"
Choice spokeswoman Ingrid Just said.
"(They are) spending more on clothes and shoes and having to constantly duck
under showerheads."
Each generation of Australians is about 2cm taller than the previous one.
More than a quarter of 18-24 year old men are more than 185cm tall, over 6ft 1in
in the old scale. One young woman in 10 tops 175cm (5ft 9in).
Tall People United co-founder Petra Cowled says most retailers are yet to twig
that there's a big opportunity in catering for what is, quite literally, a
growing market.
"We're just really behind here in catering for tall people," she said.
Ms Cowled said shoes and jeans were hard to find, came at a hefty premium, and
the changing rooms could prove tricky.
"I've got a girlfriend, (202cm basketballer) Tracey Beatty, and she often gets
exposed at the top and she has to duck," she said.
Ms Cowled, whose 18-year-old daughter Ashlee stands 185cm tall, said a lack of
options often saw tall young girls forced into wearing unsuitably adult styles.
"It happens all over the place," she said. "We need to cater for them."
Ms Cowled said internet shopping was cheaper, and a lot easier.
The longest king-sized beds here are 203cm, 13cm shorter than in the US.
Tall People United's other founder, 208cm Steve Lunardon, has to sleep
diagonally in bed.
And Choice says tall people have no option but to hunch under shower heads and
curl up in bathtubs.
"Businesses understandably need to operate on economies of scale but it
shouldn't be a tall order," Ms Just said.
"We're not talking about a tiny market." |
