In episode 505 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Tim Parr, founder of Caddis, a cultural lifestyle and eyewear brand boldly celebrating the 40-plus community. Parr shares that he launched Caddis after seeing a cultural and marketing void around aging consumers (3:30). He argues Gen X and older customers are overlooked despite significant spending power, citing that people over 50 control 83 percent of household income but receive only 7 percent of marketing dollars (4:40). Caddis counters “anti-aging” messaging with transparent, witty, irreverent copy and a focused audience, using artificial intelligence as a tool to spark nonlinear ideas (12:40).

In a commoditized eyewear market, Parr notes that Caddis differentiates itself through consistent brand communication, best-of-breed product, and a daily commitment to a strong “why.” He urges businesses to recognize the macro demographic shift and to hire people in that age group, specifically in creative roles, to better understand the customer and capture their attention and spending (17:20).

After selling the first company he founded, Swobo, to Santa Cruz Bicycles, Tim worked at the iconic brand Patagonia in Ventura, CA., and later founded the brand strategy company PARR GOLDMAN & BYRNE. After many years of business consultancy, he decided he should tour the Western U.S. with a bluegrass band melting faces. Tim stands 73 inches away from solid ground, is married to a modern dancer, and has two daughters. He is the founder and CCO of CADDIS, the world’s first brand evangelizing awesome aging. In 2021, Tim gathered a group of unsuspecting heavyweights to launch the nonprofit, Music Farming, and is granting money to music education efforts around the USofA. He will play a ballad on lap steel guitar and takes requests … actually he doesn’t. He doesn't enjoy writing in the third person.