New Age Moves Toward Main Street

by Pamela Rohland

If you simply must have a Tibetan singing bowl, a kambala or even a didgeridoo, see Mark Seaman. He's in the business of using sound to make people feel better. Earth Rhythms, his shop in West Reading, PA, is filled with colorful drums and other percussion instruments from around the world. But Seaman wants people to know this is more than just a retail music store: Earth Rhythms is designed to be an experience, a place where customers are welcome to spend hours browsing, learning about the instruments and trying them out. "I wanted to create a cultural music center, a store that's like a global marketplace," Seaman says. "I want people to feel they have a place to experiment."

In addition to selling the instruments and the handmade beaded jewelry his wife Sandra makes, Seaman provides schools, corporate retreats, company picnics and senior centers with team-building workshops and entertainment programs that incorporate the instruments. His most popular program, however, is "Rhythm and Recovery," which he facilitates at drug and alcohol treatment centers around the country, including The Betty Ford Center. Seaman and his drumming sessions were featured in the July/August '99 issue of New Age magazine.

Same beat, new drum

Rhythm-based therapy is nothing new. It's been used for years to help overworked professionals, angry adolescents and Alzheimer's patients. But recent scientific studies are beginning to confirm the therapeutic effects of drumming on the mind, body and spirit. "The mainstream is starting to pay attention to the effects of sound on the body," Seaman says. "I work with doctors and lawyers and kids and 'Deadheads.' It's great to watch a doctor and a kid sitting side by side, connecting through drumming."

Seaman's love of drumming started when he went to a party and was enchanted by a set of conga drums. In his spare time, the marketing executive began studying global music, but it wasn't until 1992 that he and Sandra, who owned an advertising agency, decided to start a business together.

Although cautious of sounding too "New Age-y," the 46-year-old Seaman reveals that the name for the store came to him in a dream. "I woke up with the words 'earth rhythms' running through my head," he says. "I thought it would be a great name for a business. Sandra's response was that she thought I had lost my mind."

Traditional retailers might also be tempted to shake their heads, but they would be making a mistake to dismiss him. Although his store is in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, with its down-to-earth, traditional ways, Seaman has tapped into one of the most important retail trends of the decade: the movement that is bringing so-called New Age products and practices into a thriving mainstream market. Between his retail location, his seminars and his Web site (www.earthrhythms.com), Seaman's annual revenues are $225,000. And his business is poised to grow well beyond that in the next few years.

Not in Webster's

So what exactly does "New Age" mean? The one, true definition is hard to nail down, even for someone like Molly Trimble, editor of New Age Retailer. "The definition of 'New Age' is an ongoing question," she acknowledges. In the '70s, it was synonymous with "flaky" and "out there." People scoffed at the notion that needles inserted into strategic body parts could alleviate illness, that certain aromas could relieve stress or increase energy, and that harmonious furniture arrangements could increase wealth.

Today, the ancient arts of acupuncture, aromatherapy and feng shui are in the language and in common practice. Their effectiveness is accepted by a growing number of Westerners. One key reason for the incredible growth of this market is that the majority of Americans today are seeking spirituality and exploring new avenues toward a more spiritual life, while at the same time moving away from organized religion.* Not only that, the largest segment of the population is aging—and looking for alternative remedies for creaking bones and flagging energy.

For retailers, "New Age" has come to mean products and techniques that help consumers—the new "New Age market"—cope with a harried and stressful world. Scented candles, crystals, Celtic jewelry, global music, meditation tapes, healing stones, natural remedies and books all designed to help readers lead a more fulfilling life all could fall under the New Age heading. As a result, retailers like Seaman aren't just selling things—they're selling health and harmony, relaxation, a better mood, an enriched life. Still, they hesitate to label their products "New Age" because it continues to be met with skepticism and scorn in some circles. To elude any hint of stigma, many manufacturers label New Age products with buzzwords such as "holistic," "healing," "harmonious" and even "spiritual."

Says Trimble, "The general public seems to take New Age principles and turn them into lifestyle improvement issues. For example, 'Live in harmony' becomes 'Get rid of stress with aromatherapy."' In the mass market, she says, "New Age becomes less about philosophy and more about products and techniques to feel better."

Who's selling? Who's buying?

Since the term is hard to define, it's equally hard to know exactly how many New Age retailers are out there. Trimble and others estimate approximately 6,000 New Age stores, mostly small establishments like Seaman's. Most of the stores on New Age Retailer's subscription list are on the West and East coasts and in the Southwest, with lighter concentrations in the Plains states. But growth is spreading: between 1998 and 1999, Louisiana experienced the greatest increase, with the number of stores up 35 percent.

While New Age stores overall may be few, the number of retailers who stock New Age products alongside their mainstream wares is countless. Even middle-of-the-road mega-marketers like Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens and the Franklin Mint have gotten into the act because they know there's money to be made. New Age consumers spend between $14.6 and $19.5 billion a year, according to New Editions International, a New Age marketing company based in Sedona, AZ; and the average general consumer spends about $1,145 a year on New Age products.

The biggest draw is books, a trend fueled by best-sellers such as The Celestine Prophecy, the novel based on New Age spiritual beliefs, and non-fiction like Simple Abundance. The average New Age buyer purchases 23 books a year; the average general consumer buys seven.

The typical New Age customer is a 35-year-old woman who is interested in the environment and alternative health remedies, and is not involved in organized religion, according to Karen Crane, a New Age marketing consultant and owner of Crystal Vision Wands (Cortez, CO). Today, customers come from every demographic category. As a result, "There are few stores anymore that don't carry some New Age items," says Susie Hare, president of the International New Age Trade Show, based in Denver. "Many mainstream people have an interest in portions of the New Age market. They might not go into a New Age shop to buy products like aromatherapy candles, but they will buy them elsewhere."

The growth of the New Age trade show—the only one of its kind in the United States, and one of the primary resources for New Age products—reflects what is happening in the market, according to Hare. Held at the Denver Merchandise Mart every June (June 24-26 this year), the show was launched five years ago at the request of retailers. Previously, "they had to go to several shows around the country to buy New Age products... such as going to the gift show to buy candles," Hare says. "Or they ordered products through various catalogs, or just waited for reps to stop by."

Since that first year, the New Age show has tripled in size; this year, Hare expects about 350 exhibitors. Because of the demand, she is also launching a second New Age trade show to be held in Spring 2001 somewhere in the Southeast.

Moving toward Main Street

When Adam Kasha, president of Kasha Crystals (Ann Arbor, MI), wanted to start his business in the late '80s, dealers told him that the market was ebbing after a healthy run in the '70s and early '80s. "Those were not-so-hot times," recalls Andras Nevai, president of Pendulum Works in Sedona, a manufacturer and wholesaler of pendulums. "A lot of stores went out of business. It's not that New Age stuff wasn't in demand. It's that the market was changing, becoming more mainstream."

Good thing Kasha didn't listen to the nay-sayers. His company now sells more than 200 types of crystals and traditional Eastern art objects to 1,000 accounts—independent retailers, chains and direct mail marketers—throughout the US and in 40 countries.

The little guys really aren't in competition with the giants for New Age customers, Kasha says. "We have such a diversity of products that chains like Walgreens, Natural Wonders and American Eagle will never carry our full line," he says. "They'll buy our jewelry, and our polished eggs to sell at Easter, or our polished hearts for Valentine's Day. Our smaller clients, such as boutiques and museum shops, buy our rocks and semi-precious gemstones."

Web businesses are finding that the New Age market reaches into cyberspace. Nettie Bunton and Patricia Souder of tiny Woxall, PA, have discovered a growing following for their Internet store, The Purple Emu (www.purpleemu.com), which sells a varied line of alternative and aromatherapy products made from the oil of emus—gangly five- to six-foot, 100-pound birds that are said to be descendants of dinosaurs. Products include soaps, face and body creams, shampoo, arthritis cream, gel caps, and even emu jerky and Dinosaur Stix, an emu version of beef stick.

In addition to selling online, the products also sell at local health food stores, department stores and gift shops, as well as less obvious locations such as truck stops, sandwich shops and feed stores. "We wanted to make products that would appeal to the average person," Bunton says.

Leap of faith—and science

Some people, especially general consumers, buy New Age products like crystals, pendulums and stones simply for decorative purposes: they don't expect them to do anything but look, smell or taste good. But many New Age products tout their healing or even mystical properties. Despite the growing acceptance of such products, skeptics challenge the validity of some of their claims, and some retailers worry that they'll lose credibility with their regular customers if they sell products that prove useless. On the other hand, many retailers selling New Age products were once skeptics themselves until some experience changed their thinking about what a product could do.

Kasha is one of them. Having studied political science and architecture, he worked for an architectural restoration company, where he met people who did custom glass work using gemstones. "I heard them talk about the powers of these stones, but I was deeply skeptical," Kasha says. "I developed a passion for gemstones because they are incredibly beautiful things the Earth produces. But if you tell a person that a crystal will make them heal, that doesn't make sense [to them]—it's a very big leap of faith." Without going into detail, Kasha said he had a transcendent, eye-opening experience that changed his thinking about the power of crystals, as well as the direction of his life.

Furthermore, he and others point out, mainstream science often supports the effectiveness of certain New Age products. For example, "Scientists use crystals to conduct energy and hold frequency," Kasha says. "Crystals are used in computer chips, satellite transmitters, lasers, quartz watches and fiber-optics."

Bunton and Souder, who have long touted the properties of emu oil, say science is finally catching up: according to researchers, the oil is a highly effective carrier of other healing agents, the key to its beneficial effects such as repairing burns and lowering cholesterol.

Thirteen years ago, Johannes R. Fisslinger, president of The Aura Shop (Marina del Rey, CA), saw a woman "with an incredible blue-violet color around her," he remembers. "I was shocked. It disappeared for a while, and then it returned." He says the machine he developed to read auras—the energy/color field surrounding a person's body—is similar to a standard biofeedback system or blood pressure gauge. Customers place their hand on a sensor and can see their aura on the monitor. Depending on the condition and color of the aura, they can use color-therapy products, oils, candles, meditation music, pendants and gemstones to improve their health and relieve stress.

Fisslinger began selling the machines in health-food shops and other locations in the US, Europe and Brazil. Until recently, his company installed the machines and performed the readings. Fisslinger's aura machines are now operating in malls, and he hopes to franchise the business. "We want to become the Starbucks of the holistic market," he says. "People are ready for this."

In reality, insiders say, there's really nothing new about New Age products. Most have been in use somewhere in the world for hundreds, even thousands of years. "Pyramids are a symbol of the New Age, but there are pyramids in every part of the world," Nevai says. "And can you think of a time in the last few hundred years when people didn't use candles for romance and for light?" The Chinese knew about holistic healing and feng shui for thousands of years before that new store opened in the mall.

Although retailers may not realize it, most are already selling to customers with New Age beliefs. Those who don't capitalize on it are losing money. As Trimble says "[New Age] seekers are in your store every day."