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What Florida Buys — Tampa / St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg ... -??Have middle-of-the-road tastes. Eat a lot of refrigerated goods and drink a lot of coffee. Despite food preferences that indicate some health consciousness, residents here are the heaviest smokers in Florida and buy a lot of weight-control products.-??Wine? Red. Juice? Yes, but no frozen concentrate. Cheese? Swiss, please.-??In the driveway: A U.S. model, a big one.
No Quitters HereCigarettes: $96.3 million, 42%above the national averageAnti-smoking products: $732,454, 9% below average
CheersSpirits/liquor: $56.7 million, 192% above the nationWine: $103.4 million, 178% aboveBeer/ale: $143.8 million, 79% above
Eating
On the Table
Natural cheese: $69.9 million, 24% above average
Processed cheese: $30.9 million, 9% above
Other: Tampa Bay, like the rest of Florida, loves Swiss, buying 118% more than the national average. It's the only one of the four major markets in Florida where Monterey Jack purchases are in line with the national average. Everywhere else in Florida, they're below.
Refrigerated desserts: $9.1 million, 66% above the national average
Caffeinated ...
Coffee: $38.4 million, 47% above the national average
Tea/coffee ready-to-drink: $10.6 million, 124% above
... and Sleepless
Sleeping remedies: $943,209, 55% above average
Slimming Down
Weight control and nutritional liquids and powders: $12.1, 77% above average
No Fountain of Youth
- One in five Floridians is over 65 -- a statistic visible in purchasing data. Adult incontinence purchases are above average everywhere in the state, for example: In Jacksonville, 76%; Orlando, 67%; south Florida, 33%; and Tampa Bay, where they're 93% above average. Another indicator of an aging population -- sales of egg substitutes -- is off the scale in Tampa Bay, where egg substitutes, while working off a small base of only $45,387 in sales, qualify as the most above-average (1,511% above average) category of any category in the Florida markets. Egg substitutes and other choices indicate a big group of seniors "more sensitive to their health," says Mark W. Johnston, a Rollins College marketing professor. "They're more concerned with how they cook and what they cook."
- Meanwhile, sales of denture products in supermarkets are 85% above average in Tampa Bay. Sales of most baby-related categories are just above average.
Supermarket Shopping
Love ItPeople in the Tampa Bay region buy more than the national average of:??1. Egg substitutes??2. Suntan products??3. Spirits/liquor??4. Refrigerated entrees??5. Wine??6. Frozen coffee creamer??7. Refrigerated baked goods??8. Ready-to-drink tea/coffee??9. Refrigerated spreads10. Refrigerated side dishes11. Refrigerated seafood12. Adult incontinence products 13. Denture products14. Bottled water15. Water softener/treatment16. Gloves17. Isotonics (sports drinks)Leave ItPeople in Tampa Bay buy less of the following:
??1. Produce rinse??2. Mexican food??3. Cosmetic storage??4. Frozen juice??5. Toothbrush holders??6. Juice/drink concentrate??7. Pizza products??8. Marshmallows??9. Blank audio/visual media10. Refrigerated meat/poultry
Man of the People
Ron Mudry may be the president and CEO of Progress Telecom, but when it comes to his consumer purchases, Shopping list:- Fresh OJ- Cheese- Bottled water- Honda Accordhe's Mr. Average. Like most buyers in Tampa Bay and the state, he likes his OJ fresh. He likes cheese, especially Swiss and Cheddar, both best sellers in Tampa and St. Petersburg. He eats seafood fairly often relative to the nation. He buys bottled water when he takes out his boat. The boat, by the way, is a Sea Ray, the top-selling make in Florida. And he drives a Honda Accord, the fourth best-selling vehicle in Florida. "For me, cars are transportation," he says.
Value on the Vine
Michael Klauber, owner of Michael's On East restaurant in Sarasota and an adjoining wine business, carefully watches the preferences of wine purchasers in his market. "The thing I'm seeing is a price-point preference," he says. "The majority of people today are looking for good everyday wine."
- In Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, the preference is for wines under $10. Wine buyers are 31% more likely than the nation to buy wine in that range. They also are more likely than the nation and the state to buy blush, rose or white and less likely to buy red, champagne or sparkling wines. Klauber says favored value wines he's selling are Shiraz from Hope Estate, an Australian red, and Rioja from Sierra Cantabria, a Spanish red.
- Only 2% of wine purchasers in the Fort Myers/Naples area spend $20 or more for a bottle of wine, meaning buyers there are 65% less likely than the nation to buy more expensive wines.
- Fort Myers/Naples is an above-average market for rose and blush but below average (24% less likely than the nation) to buy champagne and sparking wines. Alan Barbone, part owner of Gulf Points Liquors & Wines in Fort Myers, says his customers don't like dropping $30 or $40 just to make a toast; they like good wines for a value price. "I still go with the Australian for the quality for the price," Barbone says. "Five years ago we probably had five or 10 Australian wines in the store, and now I have 50."
SELLERS
Top-selling vehicles
in Tampa Bay:Pinellas
CountyHillsborough
CountyPinellas rankState
rankHillsborough rank State
rank 1 Ford F-1501Ford F-1501 2 Toyota Camry3Ford Explorer2 3 Ford Explorer2Honda Accord4 4 Dodge Ran7Toyota Camry3 5 Honda Accord4Honda Civic5 6 Ford Ranger8Dodge Ram7 7 Mercury Grand Marquis13Nissan Altima10 8 Toyota Corolla6Ford Ranger8 9 Ford Expedition9Ford Expedition910 Nissan Altima10Toyota Corolla611 Ford Mustang12Ford Mustang1212 Cadillac Deville17Chevy Silverado1113 Chevy Silverado11Chevy Cavalier1414 Honda Civic5Dodge Caravan2215 Chevy Cavalier14Chevy S101916 Chevy Trailblazer20Toyota Tacoma1617 Ford Taurus15VW Jetta2518 Chrysler PT Cruiser29Ford Taurus1519 Chevy Avalanche18Chevy Trailblazer2020 Lincoln Town Car23Nissan Frontier34Getting Around
What Tampa Bay Drives
Tampa Bay drivers tend toward domestic makes. The only category of foreign vehicle in which the market is above the national average is trucks.
Tampa Bay vehicle owners are:
30% more likely than the state and nation to own a large domestic car
35% more likely to own a domestic subcompact
Planning to spend $23,318, on average, for a new car, higher than the $22,714 state average
Fort Myers and Naples buyers:
Plan to spend on average $24,228 for a new car in the next 12 months, the highest figure in the state
Are 97% more likely than the rest of the nation to own or lease a domestic luxury vehicle
Are least likely to own domestic compacts, 28% under the nation
Aren't likely to buy foreign vehicles: Only foreign SUV ownership was above the national average and only by 7%.
