Tween Beat

While you're at it, don't overestimate their rebelliousness. Although teenagers are generally expected to go a little James Dean on their parents--their younger counterparts rarely opt for such adversity. "It's a conformative time," says Acuff. "[Preteens] conform to peer pressure, trends, apparel tastes and so forth because they're anxious to be accepted. They're moving away from the need to be loved solely by their parents to the need to be loved and accepted by their peers. It puts a lot of pressure on them."

Without question, this gives businesses a tricky balance to strike as well. On the one hand, tweens, especially of the modern-day variety, are grown up enough to scoff at the likes of Mickey Mouse and his cartoon pals. On the other hand, this is still an age of innocence.

"There's a gray area," acknowledges Dennis, whose Ch!ckaboom stores feature nail polish bars but refrain from selling makeup. "I'm a parent, and I don't want [preteens] to look like teenagers. This isn't about loss of innocence; it's about having fun."

"When you think back to when you were 12 years old, that was the last time in your life when you weren't really trying to impress [the opposite sex] that much," agrees Bokram. "You're just happily plodding along, thinking about what you're going to do with your life. There's a feeling of optimism and [the idea that] the world is laid out before you."

Ironically, this generation of tweens may only be matched in their optimism by their parents--the we-can-change-the-world baby boomers. "They haven't really lived through bad times," says Dennis of pre-millennium tweens. "That's really molded them. There's an optimism and confidence [about them] that I see."

So who says history never repeats itself?

This article was originally published in the September 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Tween Beat.