By Kathleen Dayton, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Sep. 10--Getting older might not be fun, but you sure can't beat the discounts.
From grocery stores to hotels to restaurants, senior citizens often get a price break, whether it be on a particular day or with a particular discount card, or just because they sport the necessary gray hairs.
Charlotte Ciappetta, a 64-year-old member and employee of the Grand Strand Senior Center, said she has shopped at Belk for the senior discounts and other services the department store offers on Tuesdays.
'I live on a budget, and it's kind of tough,' Ciappetta said. 'Any type of discount is greatly appreciated. When I go to a restaurant, I always mention I'm a senior.'
So do a lot of other older Americans, and as the 50-plus crowd grows, some businesses are trimming senior perks or getting rid of them altogether.
Delta Air Lines Inc. recently eliminated its senior club, which gave travelers 62 and older cut-rate fares if they paid an annual membership fee. Delta said it has replaced the club with discounts available to all age groups.
General Cinema Theatres Inc. recently left the senior-heavy market in Florida, where one official said profits suffered because of a large amount of discounted tickets.
On the Grand Strand, however, it appears senior discounts are here to stay.
'It's what seniors expect, it's part of our industry,' said Debbie Braden, manager of The Firebird Motor Inn.
Braden said The Firebird has always offered a 10 percent discount to seniors, who ask for it even during the off-season when rates already are low.
'We have $38 rooms on the oceanfront and they ask for a discount and we give it to them,' Braden said. 'I wouldn't [want to] be the first to not accommodate that discount when all my competitors do the same thing. It's what seniors expect.'
At The Hanser House, a family-owned restaurant in Pawleys Island, seniors can order from a specially priced menu without having to prove their age. The restaurant also offers an early bird special to diners of all ages.
'We get a lot of seniors, so we like to keep them happy,' said Geneva McKenzie, daughter of restaurant owner Nita Hanser. 'There's a lot of retirees down here in Litchfield. Basically [the discount] is 55 and up, but anyone that wants it gets it.'
Nationally, however, the swelling senior population has businesses worried.
One in every five Americans is 55 or older, and some feel the new senior generation is not as strapped for cash.
'This is the most advantaged, entitled group in America,' said Ken Dychtwald, a 51-year-old gerontologist in San Francisco, who worked as a consultant to the health care industry in the 1980s and helped establish some of the discounts he now questions.
Dychtwald said he recently watched two older couples get out of a new Mercedes in the parking lot of a movie theater, where they all got senior discounts.
'You can dig yourself a hole ... if you give stuff away to people over 50,' Dychtwald said.
But Myrtle Beach restaurant owner Constantine Leftis believes the large population of seniors in the Grand Strand makes the area a bit unique.
'We have so many senior citizens down here that we cannot afford to not accommodate them,' Leftis said.
Leftis offers a senior value menu at his Plantation House of Pancakes and a 10 percent discount to seniors at the Pan American Pancake House.
'It's expected, it's standard,' Leftis said. 'Some of the senior citizens, if we do not discount ... would be offended.'
Debra Bramlett, marketing manager for the Myrtle Beach Factory Shoppes, said the outlet center installed its Club Platinum program for seniors just a year ago and plans to expand it.
The free club for shoppers ages 50 and older entitles them to a 10 percent discount on Tuesdays at participating stores.
Other area businesses that honor the Club Platinum card are The Ice Castle Theatre and Beach Bums Car Wash. Bramlett said the Crook & Chase Theater also is interested in participating.
Bramlett advertises the Club Platinum card on WEZV-FM.
'We're getting about 200 new people a month signing up for this program,' Bramlett said.
The Original Benjamin's Calabash restaurant offers its Platinum 55 Club at the restaurant and through hotels and welcome centers.
Brigitte Wilson, marketing and group sales director for the restaurant, said the senior clientele is expected to grow even more this year.
Leftis believes that government programs such as Social Security and organizations such as the AARP eventually might raise the age at which a senior is considered a senior.
For now, Leftis uses the AARP's age qualification as a guideline for identifying seniors at his pancake houses.
If a customer does not have an AARP card, he determines their age another way.
'You look at how many gray hairs they have,' Leftis said. 'But I'm getting some too, so I shouldn't say too much.'
The Wall Street Journal contributed to this report.
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(c) 2001, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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