The booming scrapbooking market in the USA: Despite phenomenal growth, the future's unclear

Abstract

Purpose

The interest in scrapbooking across the USA has boomed virtually overnight. Sales have skyrocketed from $500 million in 2000 to $2.5 billion in 2003. Is the interest based on a great deal of scrapbooking hype and investment with little long‐term industry profitability, like the electronics “dot com” boom and bust? Or is there some other scenario developing here?

Design/methodology/approach

Data were developed from: a mail survey of 596 scrapbooking hobbyists; discussions with persons in the industry; and an extensive review of the available literature. The mailing yielded a surprising 30 percent return to a lengthy 58‐question instrument. All the respondents were subscribers to a scrapbooking magazine, possibly indicating persons highly involved with the hobby. The analysis focused on a better understanding of the long‐term viability of the scrapbooking market by addressing the questions posed above.

Findings

Scrapbooking respondents have a family‐oriented culture, are economically upscale, are well educated, and have an extensive communications network with others involved with the hobby. However, retail competition is intense and growing stronger as 4,000 independent scrapbooking stores struggle to compete against 15,000 well‐established large chains. Smaller stores are failing because of a lack of marketing and finance acumen. Those smaller operations that want to survive will have to cater to well‐defined niches.

Practical implications

The data suggest that the scrapbooking market might be losing some of its growth potential. The proportion of novices undertaking the hobby is declining, too many retailers are competing for a share of the market and the proportion of sale‐priced merchandise is increasing, because consumer tastes quickly change. Those in the industry need to be aware of the broader trends and develop contingency plans to survive in a turbulent market.

Originality/value

A recent industry study by Hartnett in 2004 shows that a very large proportion of businesspersons associated with scrapbooking are optimistic about the future business climate. This analysis indicates there may be some serious storms on the horizons.

Citation

Fram, E.H. (2005), "The booming scrapbooking market in the USA: Despite phenomenal growth, the future's unclear", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 215-225. https://doi.org/10.1108/09590550510588389