Tween Beat

What's it like to be a tween in 1999? It means reading everything from Teen People to YM to Girls' Life to a whole range of skateboarding and surfing magazines. It means having your own e-mail address--or at least being on your way to getting one. It means, ultimately, being who you are.

Like 11-year-old Taylor Carico, who listens to teenage singing superstar Britney Spears and plays volleyball twice a week. "I'm so busy," says the tween, citing a shopping preference for department stores like Macy's and Nordstrom. How much do friends influence her buying decisions? "I don't usually copy what friends wear," Carico says. "I just wear what I'm comfortable with."

"A lot of my friends buy stuff they see in magazines," offers Cassie Kreitner, 11, who frequently shops at Limited Too and Old Navy. Describing her generation as "talkative," Kreitner says peer pressure goes only so far: "With clothing, if I see someone [wearing something I like], I might get something similar to it, but not exactly the same."

For 11-year-old Ricky Norris, watching Pokémon on TV is a favorite way to spend time--as is occasionally acting in TV commercials. Like a lot of tweens, Norris also enjoys auto-racing (as a spectator, not a participant) and playing hockey. What's cool to him? Vans, Billabong clothing--and Mom surprising him with gifts of new threads.

"We [shop] together," says Amanda Limburg of herself and her mother. "We look through the store, and I pick out what I like, and she picks out what she likes, and we agree on what to get." Although she still enjoys visiting Disneyland, this 11-year-old admits she's outgrown some Disney stuff and leans towards such stores as Limited Too, Old Navy and the Gap. How does she view today's tweens? Replies Limburg, "We're weird, I think."

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