Tuesday, August 08, 2000
Scootering through summer
Hot-selling two-wheelers the rage among vacationing kids
By Mike Pulfer
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Brands include Micro and Yaak. Quality differences created a cost range of $60 to about $130.
(Michael Snyder photo)
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Why walk when you can scoot?
Why indeed, pre-teens are asking when they're not darting up and down Tristate streets, sidewalks and driveways on simple boards with wheels and handlebars.
Collapsible scooters, retailing for $60 to $130, are the hottest thing in juvenile transportation since the Big Wheel. Sales managers say kids — especially boys — love trying them out in stores and love even more the idea of taking one home with them.
“We had some for a couple of weeks, but we're sold out now,” says Jennifer Johnson, assistant manager at Children's Place, Colerain Township. “We hear they're real popular in New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other big cities — with kids and adults, too. . .Most of our sales were to 12- and 13-year-old boys.”
The store, which carried only one model — a $60 aluminum Yaak with red wheels — is keeping a customer waiting list.
“I'd say we're selling 12 to 15 of them a day,” says Jonathan Krass, senior sales associate at Sharper Image, Kenwood. “We've had them in the store for well over a year, and they just sat off to the side and no one paid any attention to them. Then summer rolled around and suddenly they became a big thing.
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ELECTRIC SCOOTERS
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If scooters look like fun except for the scooting part, try trading up a few notches to the Citybug electric scooter, which, at $599.95, comes with a 24-volt rechargeable battery, seat, kickstand and cargo basket.
A four-hour charge is good for about 15 miles of travel. It weighs about 48 pounds and folds to 39 by 10 by 14 inches. At Sharper Image. (800) 344-4444.
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“Kids love to come in and grab them off the shelf and ride them around the store,” he said.
But can they be more fun than a bike?
“In some ways, yes,” says Ryan Hasselbeck, 11, of Blue Ash. “I go as fast as I can go without falling off.”
Comparing scooters with skateboards and in-line skates, 11-year-old Max Frecka, a neighbor and friend of Ryan's, says, “The problem is you can't do any tricks” on scooters. “I go as fast as I can. . .Most people around here go very slow.”
“This is easier to control” than a skateboard, Ryan says, examining his shiny new Yaak.
Their neighborhood — just west of the University of Cincinnati's Raymond Walters College — is thick with scooters and scooter kids.
“It's weird,” says Max. “Right after I got one, it seemed like everybody got one.”
Both boys said they became aware of scooters on their summer vacations.
“I didn't know anything about them until I saw a kid riding one and playing around with it in Cleveland,” Max says. He was visiting his grandfather earlier this summer.
“I first saw one on vacation in Virginia,” said Ryan. “In a store. Actually, my dad wanted one.”
Manufacturers and store managers say grown-ups get equally excited about planting one foot on the running board and shoving off with the other.
“For a lot of parents, it reminds them of when they were younger,” Mr. Krass, from Sharper Image, suggests. Some college students have been buying them for quick trips across campus. And, of course, pre-teens like the novelty of whizzing around the neighborhood, just to be whizzing around the neighborhood.
Enthusiasm for the product “reaches across all age ranges, but for the most part, it's parents buying for their kids,” Mr. Krass says.
Ms. Johnson, at Children's Place, says “12- and 13-year-old boys” were showing the most interest. . .and racking up most of the sales.
“Most of the interest is from boys,” Mr. Krass says, “But there are girls who have to have their Razors, too.”
Razor is another brand name for scooters, or roller boards, as they have been dubbed by some manufacturers. Other brands include Micro, Kickboard and Xootr.
Their popularity spread from Australia, Japan and Hawaii in the past two years, and retailers now enjoy significant sales throughout the United States. Industry sales projections call for moving 2 to 5 million scooters this year.
Bandage manufacturers might anticipate slight improvements on their bottom lines, too, thanks to the mishaps that might result. But local hospital spokespeople said they saw no dramatic increase in emergency room activity linked to the two-wheelers.
“My little brother (7) has crashed many times,” 11-year-old Max says in Blue Ash. Ryan slips off a shoe to expose a recent scooter wound on his foot.
“I can't leave home without somebody saying, "Wear a helmet,' ” he says.
All models come with a foot-operated “fender brake,” a simple rear-wheel fender, that, when depressed against the tire, slows the scooter and its rider. Upgrade models come with shock absorbers, “wheelie bars” and carrying cases and handles. At about 7 pounds, they telescope and fold in seconds to fit in a backpack or locker.
Max says the brake on his Titan works fine — but some models get hot.
Which seems to be an appropriate word to describe scooters in general.
Deborah Colburn, customer service specialist at Toys R Us, Springdale, says, “Kids are buying them right and left . . . We provide several samples for kids to try out . . . I've seen a lot of employees on them, too.
“They're hot.”
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