`gym Rats' Have Hafey Hopeful 
Last Year's Underclass Is This Year's Leaders

Albert Rowles Sr.

By MARIA KOCHIS; Special to the Times Leader
 Saturday, November 26, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 12A 





WILKES-BARRE TWP. -- Although adolescents thronged the Wyoming Valley Mall
on Black Friday, some felt as though they were invisible to shop clerks. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 John Mitchell, 14, of Kingston Township says storekeepers should make a
greater effort to tap the contents of adolescents' wallets. Young people say
they have been brushed aside by clerks eager to help older customers with
deeper pockets. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "They have to be open to them if they want to sell this stuff," Mitchell
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His mother, Donna Mitchell, agreed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "When I come in, they pay attention to me," she said. "When he comes in,
they don't pay attention to him. And it's his age group that's supporting
these stores." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 National surveys report that young people have more disposable income to
spend than ever before, and more merchants are targeting their marketing
efforts toward them. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Walter Aaron York, 19, of Hanover Township said evidence that more
manufacturers are gearing their products toward adolescents can be found in
the sports superstars they use in advertising. He cited former basketball
player Michael Jordan, who is now in the Chicago White Sox minor league
baseball organization, and Deon Sanders, who played baseball with the
Cincinnati Reds and now plays football with the San Francisco 49ers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 York, who shopped at area department store on Friday, said between the jobs
they hold and the money they receive from parents, many adolescents have
enough cash to be considered important consumers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 York said he was pulled to the stores on Friday by the discounts. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Love them. Thirty percent. Twenty-five percent. Especially on jewelry.
Seventy-five percent," he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 To some youths interviewed Friday, it was the quality of particular stores
as well as the sales spiel that held their attention. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I start out shopping for Christmas and I end up shopping for myself," said
Brian Schreiner, 17, of Harrisburg. Schreiner said he has also noticed that
otherwise-solicitous shopkeepers tend to ignore people in his age bracket. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "They ask you how you're doing and that's about it," Schreiner said. "I'm
standing around looking for someone to help me." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Mary Ivo, the assistant manager of JCPenny in the Wyoming Valley Mall said
she never noticed any discrimination towards adolescents by any of the
employees there and, if she ever did, it would be corrected. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "They've got money, too," said Ivo. "Their money is as good as anyone
else's." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

`invisible' Customers Clamor For Attention