Not your father’s easy chair

Pottery Barn Kids (furnishings for children’s rooms) has been around for a while now, but I was surprised to find out about PB Teen, which was launched a few months ago. Based on the scant pictures on their new website, it looks like Urban Outfitters meets Target. Having a separate teen furniture catalog seems a bit ridiculous–or at least calling it “teen” is ridiculous; I’m sure its demand could extend up to, say, twenty-something apartment dwellers–but it’s a shrewd move in any case. Marketing directly to younger people encourages assertion of their own room-decor choices, an area in which they might not have had much say; and the Pottery Barn name, already familiar among older consumers (namely, parents who will ultimately make most of these purchases), projects the whole Williams-Sonoma sheen of attainable luxury.

We’ll see. I ordered a print catalog, and when it arrives, will report back with a review of the goods.