There has been much discussion and debate in the community about the proposed
Trinity Site Development and other developments and whether Los Alamos has the
spending power to support more retail development. There is also debate about what type
of retail and services do we want as a community. Within that discussion, we have heard
about how much income is lost here due to spending “off the hill”. As Youth Mobilizers,
we wanted to study the buying habits of teens and how teens spend their money in Los
Alamos. We desired to know where teens were getting their money; whether it was given
to them by their parents or they received it elsewhere. We also wanted to know where
and on what they normally spend it on. We wanted to know whether they spend their
money at locally owned businesses and retail stores or outside of Los Alamos; including
internet purchases. It was also important for us to know what sorts of things teens were
spending most of their money on. Being teens in Los Alamos, we had a general idea of
how teens were spending their money. We decided to form a survey questioning teens
aging from 11-18 years. We met with leaders of the community such as, Barb Marcille
and Kevin Holsapple. After discussing our survey plans with them, they gave us further
questions to put on our survey. It is our desire to provide to community and business
leaders a “youth voice” as to what retail services are desired in Los Alamos.
Finally, according to USA Today, teenagers are becoming more and more
influential in parental spending habits. Up to 90% of grocery and apparel purchases are
influenced by teens. Parents are asking their teens for advice on what type and what
brands of computers, electronics, cell phones etc. to purchase, this according to USA
Today.