MINNEAPOLIS, Apr 13, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --Piper Jaffray has completed the 19th semiannual "Taking Stock With Teens" survey, a proprietary research project comprised of gathering input from approximately 900 students with an average age of 16.6 years across 12 U.S. cities and, in partnership with DECA (an international association of high school students), online responses from an additional 5,100 students with an average age of 16.7 years.

"Our survey results continue to reflect the early stages of a discretionary recovery and fashion replenishment cycle," said Jeff Klinefelter, senior research analyst. "Although value remains a key theme in budgeting and store and brand selection for young consumers at all levels of household income, we believe households are allocating more discretionary dollars to the once-starved category of apparel."

Key findings from the survey in fashion, beauty and personal care, video game, digital media and restaurant categories include the following:

• Students indicated they would be spending an average of $932 on the fashion category in 2010, modestly below the $1,083 level from last fall and $1,018 in spring 2009. Teenage consumers continue to spend a significant amount of money on the fashion category, representing 39 percent of the total teen budget. Specialty stores continue to be the top preference of teen consumers at a 29 percent share, but discount stores and major chains are gaining share as well. The Internet channel has increased to a 10 percent share overall this year from only 6 percent three years ago. Top preferred brands across genders from the national school survey included Action Sports Brands (Pacific Sunwear, Zumiez, Volcom, Quiksilver, Vans), Forever 21, Nike, American Eagle Outfitters, and Hollister. National online survey students selected American Eagle Outfitters as their most preferred brand followed by Nike, Action Sports Brands, Hollister, and Forever 21.
• Beauty spending is up for parents and middle-income teens, with spending up 48 percent and 4 percent year-over-year, respectively. That said, more affluent teen spending on beauty is down nine percent year-over-year. When purchasing cosmetics and skin care, teen girls prefer to shop in discount stores and drug stores, while parents prefer to shop in discount stores for skin care and department stores for cosmetics.
• In the restaurant category, Starbucks continues to be the top preferred brand in both the school and online surveys. Notably, Chipotle's expanded regional presence is driving brand equity as evidenced by its continued escalation in the surveys. Finally, the results indicate that while the consumer remains cautious, we are seeing signs of an improved outlook, which may be aided by the significant discounting exhibited over the last few months.
• In video games, we estimate teens represent 35 percent of video game players; video games represent 8 percent of teen budgets. The survey results reflect the continued maturation of the current video game cycle, but reveal teen willingness to spend on non-traditional game consumption. 53 percent of teens are willing to pay for downloadable console content, 38 percent of teens are willing to pay for cell phone games, and 25 percent of teens play games through social websites. The survey suggests continued growth of digital video game content.
• In digital media, 92 percent of students who own an MP3 player indicated that they own an iPod - up from 86 percent last spring. iTunes share was 92 percent and has remained above 90 percent since 2008. 14 percent of students indicate they own an Apple iPhone while 31 percent of students expect to buy an iPhone in the next six months.

Piper Jaffray also surveyed approximately 100 parents, 66 percent of whom had reported household incomes greater than $100,000. Parents reported that spending for teens is up five percent and 31 percent from fall 2009 and spring 2009 levels, respectively. Parents also reported that spending on themselves is flat from fall 2009 and up 62 percent from spring 2009 levels. When shopping for themselves, parents cite Nordstrom and Macy's as preferred. When shopping for their teen, parents picked active sports brands, Nordstrom and Wal-Mart.

About Piper Jaffray

Piper Jaffray Companies (NYSE: PJC) is a leading, international investment bank and institutional securities firm, serving the needs of corporations, private equity groups, public entities, nonprofit clients and institutional investors. Founded in 1895, Piper Jaffray provides a broad set of products and services, including equity and debt capital markets products; public finance services; financial advisory services; equity and fixed-income institutional brokerage; equity research and fixed income analytics; and asset management services. Piper Jaffray headquarters are located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with offices across the U.S. and in London and Hong Kong. Piper Jaffray & Co. is the firm's principal operating subsidiary. (www.piperjaffray.com)

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