Alessandra Bianchi

Mature Marketing

New business retails elder-care products.

 

Like candy in the checkout aisle, prudently placed merchandise is bound to sell well. In 1991 Robert Milgroom and his partner, Kevin Roseff, staked $200,000 of their own money on that simple principle and founded Cane & Able, in Edison, N.J., catering to the fastest-growing segment of the population, the over-75 set. "We took existing elder-care products -- like canes, magnifying lenses, and heat packs -- that were not merchandised at all, and we gave them a cohesive retail format," explains Milgroom. By next month more than 1,000 stores nationwide will be test-marketing the eight-foot-wide one-stop-shopping displays. Milgroom sees a huge market, expecting revenues to hit $35 million in two years. -- Allesandra Bianchi

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