Writing on the (bathroom) Wall

Sometimes we women talk about the darndest things.  I’m allowed to say that, I’m a woman.  This statement is particularly striking coming from me because I wouldn’t consider myself a “woman’s woman.”  I don’t care to swap recipes for the best crock pot meal, I don’t have time for superfluous “where do you get your nails done?” conversations, and I’m not on board with coordinated play dates at KinderMusic (you want music? go find your iPod).  I’m not casting aspersions, I’m just clarifying that I’m not so much into the “softer” side of being female.  And I fully recognize that one woman can easily embody all of the softer elements while managing a cross-functional team of engineers, developers, and designers, conceptualizing a new product, complete her time sheet, and inhale her lunch.  It’s in our DNA (and sounds a lot like my boss, SVW with whom I hope to score points).

Which leads me to my point.  Points.  Most (adult) women are mothers by responsibility, nurturers by nature, planners by necessity, and organizers by default.  Research shows we do most of the shopping, most of the selection of insurance companies, banks, and primary care physicians.  Making your company easy to do business with seems pretty important, seeing as we women have so much power and sway.

There are some companies – retailers and foodservice come to mind – that have figured out just who the VIP are (um, that would be ME).  And they’re rolling out the red carpet and offering to slip my shoes off.

I’ve had at least two women in the past month remark to me that Younkers has the best bathrooms.  Don’t raise your eyebrows!  There’s an important lesson here.

Younkers is an “anchor” retailer at our mall, offering apparel, shoes, cosmetics, etc.  Right up a woman’s alley from an interest standpoint.  Add to that the fact that we do most of the family shopping.  Overlay that we’re a parent or a grandparent – read:  kids in tow – and you start to get the point.  We have buying power, we have people whose needs to care for, and you can bet there’s a diaper that needs changing in there somewhere.

Evidently, there are bathrooms and there are Bathrooms, capital B.  Someone in marketing or planning at Younkers Corporate (dare I say, a woman?) realized the importance of catering to their primary audience.  Making it easy for them to do business there.  And with a separate, comfortable seating area, a spacious and stocked changing area, a privacy-curtioned stall replete with waist-height outlets and current magazines (for those nursing mothers), why wouldn’t I do business there?  And logic says that if I am comfortable there, then I relax, find my groove, and am wooed into opening my wallet.

Younkers has made visiting the Ladies loo a venerable experience, and in the process started something viral.  Pass it on.