Dressing Up The Dorms

By Barbara Kiviat

ON A HAZY SEPTEMBER day, Kenley Monson arrived at Ohio Northern University for her first day of college prepared with all the essentials. Like a new computer. And a new pink plastic computer cover to go with it. Then there was the futon, and the mini-fridge. And of course the brand-new color-coordinated bedding ensemble--pink sheets, pink pillows, pink comforter--which matched the pink shag rug and halogen lamp with the pink shade. The storage crates were solid pink; the trash can was decorated with hearts colored--you guessed it--pink. And who could forget the tiki lights every frosh needs? Not Monson. She remembered to pack those too. All told, the 18-year-old figures she spent about $3,000--half of it money she earned working summers and half of it from her parents--styling what is now a super-decked-out dorm room.

And she is not alone.

Attention college shoppers. You too, Mom and Dad. The days of using cinder blocks to loft the bed, remnant carpeting to cover the floor and the oldest sheets in the linen closet to adorn the dorm-room bunk have gone the way of the slide rule. This year the university set is expected to have spent $26 billion on back-to-college wares, including clothes, books, stereos and computers. But fully $1 out of every $10 spent--$2.6 billion--went into decorating the dorm. Today's college send-offs, who have watched their parents refinance and remodel their homes in record numbers and who have come of age watching trendy decorating shows on TV like Trading Spaces, have become a new category of buyer.

Retailers, never shy about hyping a reason to spend more money on more stuff, are falling over themselves to appeal to the new dorm-room demographic. In the past few years, big players such as Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, Ikea, the Container Store, Bed Bath & Beyond and Linens 'n Things have been breaking out big chunks of floor space from July to early September for departments with cute names like Destination Dorm. They have been plying college-bound kids (and their parents) with targeted catalogs and emails, setting up gift registries, giving student discounts, even accosting kids on campus with flyers and freebies--all in an effort to win dorm dollars. The National Retail Federation, a trade group, says back to college--distinct from K12-oriented back to school--is the second biggest shopping season, behind the Christmas-Hanukkah-Kwanzaa holiday triple play. And while Mom and Dad pony up plenty of cash, students are, on average, spending more than $600 of their money on the latest and greatest must-haves, with the average freshman shelling out $1,200 on items ranging from linens to laptops.

That kind of spending, however, allows for some items that are not exactly course requirements. For instance, freshman Jackelyn Burgos, also at Ohio Northern, paid $11 for a Hello Kitty sleep mask, which matches her new bedding, towels, pajamas, alarm clock, night light, TV, coffeepot and other Hello Kitty accessories. All told, it was goodbye $1,500. Deirdre Schwiring and her mother spent $1,400 on everything from ramie curtains to a futon to a flat-screen TV for the junior's 6-ft. by 14-ft. dorm room at the University of Miami, all because last year's color scheme--pink and blue--needed to be updated for this season's trendier palette of greens.

As you might guess, young women are driving the decoration trend, but that's not to say that guys are immune, especially when it comes to gadgets and electronics. Kyle Bixenmann, 19, a sophomore at the University of Denver, loaded up on what he calls "space-saver stuff" ("If you don't have crates, you don't have anything"). He also purchased dishes, pots, pans, a 25-in. TV and a PlayStation2. But once Bixenmann was on campus, what really caught his eye was another student's stiletto-shoe-shaped chair. But he drew the line at another's espresso maker: "I thought that was a little too much of a frill. You know what I mean?" Yes, Kyle, we do.

But wait a second. People have been packing the station wagon and heading off to college for decades. How is it that just four years ago, when Kenley Monson's mother Carol shipped her brother off to college, she took her son to Goodwill to buy what he needed? And when Carol struck out on her own great collegiate adventure 32 years ago, she went shopping in her parents' attic?

"It has a lot to do with retailers creating the category," says Jeffrey Klinefelter, a stock analyst who covers the retailing industry for Piper Jaffray Cos. By building up back to college as a fully merchandised event--just like Christmas, Halloween or Mother's Day--retailers are redefining what going to college means. Penny-pinching is out; buying cucumber-scented drawer liners is in. In other words, the dorm section at Target may be packed with everything students need, but it also has tons of stuff they don't know they need until they see it. "It's a huge, untapped market that many retailers ignored for years," says National Retail Federation spokeswoman Ellen Tolley. Nothing like making up for lost time.

Blocking out a section of the store is just the beginning. Retailers are reaching out to today's college crowd where they know kids pay attention. Ikea, for instance, sent out half a million e-mails to incoming freshman and then showed up on a couple of dozen college campuses to hand out mock financial-aid forms with an invitation to cut the high cost of college by buying at Ikea. Bed Bath & Beyond offers college-bound shoppers a handy checklist that reminds students not to forget, among other things, the toaster oven, popcorn maker, snack table, blender and, that campus sine qua non, the George Foreman grill. Meal plans be damned. And after a few early attempts, gift registries for the college-bound caught on this year too. Wal-Mart, for example, rolled out its College Wishlist in July. Now students can pick up a merchandise scanner, wander the store zapping products, and then alert friends and relatives who want to buy presents.

The public relations pitch is gentle enough: Let us help you make the transition to college easier. The Design U pages on Pier 1 Imports' website, for example, provide just as much information on careers and dating as on products. Some of the messages are cleverly tailored to parents facing the anxieties of sending a child away from home for the first time. The Container Store sent out half a million mailings to "The Parents of ..." this year, inviting them to come to stores for an after-hours College Night, where parents could meet, bond, munch free cookies and save 20% on all purchases. "We're helping parents get through this process with the least amount of grief possible," says Bed Bath & Beyond spokeswoman Bari Fagin.

Some parents say the salesmanship is overwhelming. "We're overmarketed to, and I'm a little irritated," says Brenda Rizzo, mother of Ohio Northern freshman Breanne. "You go to these stores, and it's all in your face. It's too much." But just as many parents, if not more, go in for the pitch and happily splurge. "This is one of the largest emotional transitions people ever make," says Kit Yarrow, a professor of psychology and business at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. "And shopping is a way to reduce anxiety. People feel in control when they're shopping. It's something we do really well as Americans."

For well-heeled parents, it's easy to justify the indulgence. Sheila Allen was worried that her daughter Rebecca would face too much stress at Princeton University, where the 18year-old will be balancing academics with a spot on the ice-hockey team. So Sheila pushed for a new Pier 1 sofa and prodded her daughter into other purchases ranging from a flat-screen TV to a mini-fridge-freezer to a papasan chair. "She needs to be able to relax," says Sheila. To that end, Rebecca will also have new video-game accessories plus her roommate's karaoke machine. In fact, Rebecca had so many things to lug to college that her family shuttled its massive van from Ohio to Princeton twice. And if she had it to do all over again, Rebecca would probably change only one thing: using a college-gift registry to avoid the kerfuffle of receiving six laundry hampers as off-to-college presents. "That," says Rebecca, "was a little over the top." --With reporting by Karen Ann Cullotta/ Chicago; Jeanne DeQuine/ Miami; Rita Healy/ Denver; Chris Maag/ Ada, Ohio; Jeffrey Ressner/ Los Angeles; and Nathan Thornburgh/ Princeton

With reporting by Karen Ann Cullotta/Chicago; Jeanne DeQuine/Miami; Rita Healy/Denver; Chris Maag/Ada, Ohio; Jeffrey Ressner/ Los Angeles; Nathan Thornburgh/ Princeton