Color in Motion: Adult Coloring Books Hit the Airports  11/10/2015


Forget about in-flight movies -- travelers are now turning to coloring books to occupy their time in the air.


We recently reported on the adult coloring phenomenon in our School & Office Supplies Event Insights article, but I really got to see it in action during my trip from LaGuardia Airport to Cleveland yesterday on my way to visit ECRM HQ. As you'll see in the photos below, these adult coloring books are everywhere. 

Every newsstand I visited in the Delta terminal at LGA had at least a couple of adult coloring books right at the register, and one even had an entire display along the wall. One bookstore at the Cleveland airport had a gondola display which featured adult coloring books as well as colored pencils.

As you can see from the photos, stress relief and relaxation are the themes around many of these books, but others are licensed illustrations, such as the Game of Thrones coloring book I saw at a couple of locations.

Some are event meant for hanging, such as the illustrated books by Pictura, which feature pages that are folded accordion-style, that expand into one wide piece. Its "Coloring New York Jazz, which was at a display in a Cleveland airport book store, features a series of renderings of New York during the jazz era. The publisher also makes coloring books of London and Paris, as well. 

I spoke with some of the store associates offering these books, and to a person they said that these coloring books are extremely popular with travelers, and that parents often buy coloring books for themselves and each of their children.

And the great thing about these purchases is that they are completely impulse buys, which means that an accompanying purchase of colored pencils is almost guaranteed (I think it's safe to assume that travelers aren't buying them to just look at the illustrations during the flight...)

Below are a few of the images I snapped as I made my way from NY to Ohio.

MEET WITH BUYERS AND SELLERS OF THESE PRODUCTS AT ECRM’S 2016 SCHOOL & OFFICE SUPPLIES EVENT NEXT YEAR:
School & Office Supplies: September 11 to 15, 2016 at Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront (Jacksonville, FL)

RELATED LINKS:
Presentation Download: NPD Office Supplies/Back-To-School Insights

This display was at a news stand in La Guardia Airport in NY.
The LaGuardia store displayed several of them in its front window, as well.
Many adult coloring books focus on delivering relaxation or stress reduction to the user.
This display was at a book store at CLE airport. It cross-merchandises colored pencils with the coloring books
These were displayed at the register in a news stand at CLE airport.
Since these are impulse purchases, it's likely the shopper will buy colored pencils, as well
Some coloring books already include colored pencils

Joseph Tarnowski

VP Content
ECRM

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