My wife and I scheduled a dinner with my 80 year old parents last week.  Knowing they like to eat early, I winced as I suggested 6pm.  They accepted as my dad was motivated to show off his new car.  As we started to get ready to leave at 5pm to make our 20 minute drive to the restaurant, I remarked to my wife that we would arrive over a half hour early for our reservation.  She said: “that’s okay, your folks will already be there”.  Sure enough, they were just getting out of the car when we arrived.  I’ve seen this pattern play out time and time again.  What are the implications for a business serving the mature adult.  It’s pretty simple: on-time means a half hour early.  And the mature customer likes to be acknowledged and served when waiting.  This evening our hostess asked if we would like to be comfortably seated in the lounge as our table was prepared.  Smooth move.

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I just finished my Cheerios at 9:30 this morning and probably will skip lunch in favor of an early dinner.  After observing the other active adults around me, I can’t help but wonder the strategic marketing implications of this two meals a day trend.  It should be quite an opportunity for restaurants as mature customers fill the booths during off peak times.  If we’re eating later in the morning and earlier in the evening, how are our media viewing and computer using times shifting.  If you’re in a service business such as car repair, do you still schedule a traditional noon to 1 pm lunch for most of your employees.  The other day I was surprised at the active adults in line for service during the lunch hour at my local car dealer.  You’d think with their schedule flexibility, they’d come when most of the full time workers aren’t squeezing in errands at lunch. Guess again.

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