From the Washington Post's Wonkblog:
Americans have a new favorite way to flush money down the drain: luxury toilet paper.
A roll of luxury toilet paper is stamped with gold in Germany. American luxury toilet paper is softer, thicker and gold-free.
(Michael Dalder/Reuters)
Sales in the United States of what the industry calls "luxury" rolls — anything quilted, lotioned, perfumed or ultra-soft, from two- to four-ply — climbed to $1.4 billion last year, outpacing all other kinds of toilet paper for the first time in nearly a decade, data from market research firm Euromonitor International show.
The luxury market is one-fourth the size of the standard TP market, but its prominence in Big Wipe is growing faster than many industry watchers expected. Luxury toilet paper sales have grown more than 70 percent since 2000, and they're expected to keep growing faster than all other categories every year through at least 2018.
"Higher growth is expected out of the luxury segment as the improved economy allows consumers to satisfy their desire for comfort," Euromonitor analysts wrote in a recent industry report about toilet paper's "increasing premiumisation." "While the idea of ... luxury toilet paper may be slightly odd, (its) performance suggests otherwise."
This style of bath tissue offers a far different kind of luxury than, say, a $17,000 watch: It's the same ol' stuff, just thicker, softer and more absorbent than other rolls. Though it's a little pricier, analysts said, nearly everyone can still afford it, making it a surprising barometer for how confident Americans are that they can afford a minor splurge....MORE
