If you’re in the window business, it’s Gen Xers who will shortly be your mostimportant customers, if they’re not already. They’re different in severalimportant ways. For one thing, Gen-X households are much more likely to beheaded by a single person, and often a female. Immigrants and minorities makeup a greater proportion of this demographic group. The report on the remodelingmarket by the Joint Center for Housing Studies shows that “shiftingracial, ethnic, and household composition may … transform demandfor goods and services.”

That doesn’t mean they don’t need windows; it means that at some point you mayhave to rethink your marketing and selling to reach them. Their relianceon the Internet for product information, for instance, is much greater.

And Joint Center economist Kermit Baker says you probably shouldn’t count boomersout as customers for a long time. “They have a lot of discretionaryincome, and a lot of equity in their homes, and they’re willing to spendit,” he points out.

Vinyl’s Share Outpaces Market Growth Replacement and remodeling already account for a majority of the windows madefor the residential market … but just barely. In 2005, shipments ofresidential prime windows totaled 70.5 million units, up 5.1 % from 2004. (Primeresidential windows include all types of windows in the home except stormwindows, skylights, roof windows, and decorative windows.) Remodelingand replacement applications accounted for some 36.4 million of those, or 51.6% ofthe total shipped, according to the WDMA/AAMA Industry StatisticalReview & Forecast, conducted by Michigan–based Ducker Research Co.

Far and away, vinyl remains the material of choice: The study shows that vinylwindow shipments in 2005 continued to substantially outpace shipments ofother product segments. Of the 36.4 million units shipped in the remodeling/replacementmarket, 64% were vinyl, followed by wood (27%), aluminum (7%), fiberglass (1%), and “other” (1%). Vinyl’s share is expectedto hold steady at 64% in the Ducker forecast for 2006.

In a separate report, The Freedonia Group states that 33.8 million window unitsfor the remodeling/replacement market were shipped in 2004, predicts thatwill grow to 41.2 million in 2009, and sees wood’s share of the market decliningfrom 35% to 30% while vinyl escalates from 54% to 61%.

Short term, the Ducker study projects a 4% increase in shipments for 2006, andFreedonia forecasts the replacement market to grow by 4% a year through 2009, tosome 41.2 million units. Fiberglass and composites remained a smallbut fast-growing segment, as dealers look to differentiate around vinyl.