So says the Washington Post in a new story about, well, TP:
Americans have a new favorite way to flush money down the drain: luxury toilet paper.
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…
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.
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.
Before last year, luxury toilet paper’s sales growth last beat out the other rolls in 2000 and 2005, both boom years for the U.S. economy and consumer spending. The luxury toilet paper business is expected to grow 9 percent over the next five years, compared with 6 percent for the cheapest “economy” lines.
As the article continues, we learn that “luxury” toilet papers are the same brands I often consider to be “deal” toilet papers, like Quilted Northern, Cottonelle, and Charmin.
A special line of lavender-scented Angel Soft, for instance, has been targeted to Hispanic buyers, said Vivek Joshi, vice president of Georgia-Pacific’s tissue division… For the same reason, Charmin unveiled a chamomile-scented toilet paper in August with an endorsement from Ana Patricia González, host of “¡Despierta América!,” a morning show on Spanish-language network Univision.
Even in a down market, people want a little bit of luxury,” Umphress said. “They may not be able to take a spa vacation. But they can make their home a little bit more spa-like.”
Read the entire article at the Washington Post.
Pollysmom says
We just got back from Costa Rica and I told my husband that the toilet paper there was scented. He, of course, didn’t notice, but I thought it smelled like baby powder. I thought the scented stuff wasn’t supposed to be good for you??
kate114 says
It was available in the early 1980’s. The whole roll was either a pastel color (blue, green, pink?) or a colored design was printed on the white roll. If you don’t like TMI, don’t read on ;) I discovered I was mildly reactive or allergic? to the dyes, which in retrospect seems like I should have figured out the source a lot sooner than I did! Since colored tp didn’t stay on the market too long I’m wondering if I wasn’t the only one with a bad reaction? Hope no one has the same experience with the new scents.