One change that Joe has noticed is that the customers visiting the retailers that carry his products look younger and younger. as a member of the baby boomer generation, joe realizes that his peers are getting older. The group of customers that has spurred his company's growth since its founding in 1990 will likely be a smaller piece of his business in the future. Joe has also noticed the growth in extreme sports. Not only are the people who participate in these sports youngsters, but they also have unusual ( to Joe ) buying habits. They seem to want what Joe would describe as a sloppy look and attractive color schemes at the same time.
Such customer desires take advantage of new, high-tech materials that provide greater warmth with lighter materials, which support the increased mobility needed to participate in extreme sports. Joe has never used these new materials and he wonders how they would work in his production process. Finally, Joe is concerned about the buying power of this new group of potential customers. Do people in their late teens and early 20s have enough income to purchase Joe's products, which typically command premium prices?
Another concern is geographic expansion. To help offset the impact of some of the trends described