Gen-Xers: This isn't your parents' Crate & Barrel

CHICAGO — In a former grocery store here, under an L-train and next to a Trader Joe's, percolates CB2, the store where the definition of home for the next generation of consumers is being refined.

Inside, the store pulses with techno-jazz and high-impact displays. An undulating metal wave stretches across the industrial ceiling, hardwood floors gleam underfoot, shelves are stacked with black mesh hampers, night lights that change color, lime-green bath mats and platform beds.

"I could live here, it's really cool," said Alison Oldfield, 23, a graphic designer from San Francisco, whose $35 worth of purchases included an orange beaded coaster, strawberry cocktail sugar, three bottle stoppers, and a pink-and-orange plastic contact-lens case.

The "CB" stands for Crate & Barrel, the American retailing powerhouse that has been filling the homes of baby boomers with wine glasses, sisal rugs and Marimekko pillows for 40 years. The "2" signals that the store is a spinoff, a cheekier cousin geared to price-and-design conscious customers in their 20s and 30s — the children of those boomers.

The target CB2 shoppers are career professionals, more likely to live in an urban loft, apartment or townhouse than a sprawling place in the suburbs. The core demographic stretches from age 25 to 40, but the outer edges include college students as well as the over-40 set that appreciates industrial materials and slick design. They like merchandise that's trendy, but not too gimmicky. They gravitate to the cool and casual: gel-filled mousepads, olive-green shag ottomans and galvanized wine tubs.

"We're trying to be brighter, edgier and use more alternative materials," said Nicole Maile, 51, CB2's chief buyer.

Maile resists comparisons with Old Navy, a lower-priced spinoff launched by the Gap in 1994. She says Old Navy was deliberately positioned to be cheaper and more promotion-driven than Gap, with merchandise that in some cases can be considered almost disposable. CB2 customers aren't drawn to low-quality household merchandise, she says; they just want good value with style. It's about attitude, she says, not price points.

For three years, Maile and her team have been fine-tuning the new store's mix of tabletop, bathroom, storage, home-office and kitchen accessories and furniture in this lone Chicago outpost. Now, they believe, the store is ready for a national rollout; they plan to open several on the East Coast this year.

The nearly 40 million American 25- to 34-year-olds are on the cusp of their peak earning and spending years; they've come of age in the midst of much global and economic uncertainty and tend to be skeptical, impatient and highly mobile. They also are notably choosy, known for their spur-of-the-moment purchases and devotion to quickly evolving techno gadgetry. And they are being courted by a growing roster of established retailers who are realizing that 20- and 30-somethings — duh — don't want their homes to look like clones of their parents'.

Last year, Williams-Sonoma, parent of Pottery Barn, launched West Elm, a catalog-only operation aimed at attracting customers age 24 to 39. With such globally ranging merchandise as rope-weave headboards, grape silk-tufted floor cushions and Asian-inspired mirrors, the division is gearing up to send out 15 million catalogs this year, launch online shopping in the fall and open stores in 2004, according to Lisa Versacio, 41, senior vice president.

In January, meanwhile, Target stores added yet another line of products to attract design-savvy under-40 consumers: an affordable "sexy with a sense of humor" Swell collection by New York designers Cynthia Rowley and Ilene Rosenzweig. Their version of the chic urban dream pad includes aqua striped chenille rugs ($29.99) and ice buckets with built-in condiment lids ($9.99).

Maile says younger shoppers are looking for a more stimulating shopping experience, with new products constantly appearing on the shelves and on the Web site. "Their exposure to the media, to the world of retail, the Internet — all contribute to raising their expectation of shopping," she said. "Most shops today are boring. We wanted to make CB2 a compelling shopping experience."

When the CB2 store opened in January 2000, the company used unconventional ad strategies, hanging the store's name on billboards, buses and "L" platforms, even on banners behind planes flying over Cubs' games. They printed hip messages on postcards to give away at city clubs and bars.

Inside the store, the Fantastic Instant Fireplace Video ($7.95) was crackling on the TV set. Plastic hobnail tumblers ($2.95) and metal green tubs ($19.95) were ready to party. In the mix were a mod George Nelson sunburst clock (a splurge at $295), a black rubber door stop ($9.95) and hairy gray floor tiles ($5.95) — which happen to be one of CB2's best-selling items.

West Elm's Versacio, whose offices are in a renovated loft in Brooklyn, said she sees the West Elm look as less trendy and less plastic than the offerings at CB2. She says customers who shop her catalog also probably shop at Ikea, Pier One, Anthropologie and flea markets.

"This person likes to mix things up a bit," said Versacio. "They could shop at Target one day and Armani Casa the next. We're positioning ourselves a bit above Ikea and Pier One in terms of accessibility and price point. But we are getting a response from a group that is very design conscious."