Photo ~ J.C. Penney hired Ellen DeGeneres, who is openly gay, as the retail chain's spokeswoman.

Retailers See Gay Population as Next Audience to Court

Retailers are becoming a lot less closeted.

They are turning their attention to gays and lesbians, a group that wields substantial buying power but isn't fully integrated into mainstream advertising. Similar to other moves to attract different minority groups, the push comes with risks, as it could threaten the retailers' relationships with some of their longtime shoppers.

Nonetheless, from J.C. Penney Co.'s (JCP) high-profile hiring of openly gay television personality Ellen DeGeneres as its spokeswoman to Target Corp.'s (TGT) selling of same-sex greeting cards, retailers are testing ways to cozy up to a community that by one estimate is as many as 16 million strong and has almost double the disposable income of the average American, some $49,000 per capita versus $26,000.

J.C. Penney has been more aggressive than other large retailers in courting gays. In addition to hiring Ms. DeGeneres, the company featured two women as a couple in its May catalog and two men in its June offering. J.C. Penney also had a float in New York's Gay Pride parade, and the Two Dads--as the men have come to be known--also attended. J.C. Penney's monthly catalog is mailed to 14 million customers nationwide.

Macy's Inc. (M) uses gay-friendly graphics in some of its windows during Gay Pride Month in June. "We support, and have for many years, pride parades in many cities," Macy's spokesman Jim Sluzewski said.

A Sears store in a Toronto mall that was along the route of this year's gay-pride parade in that city had models holding flags in rainbow colors, the symbol of gay pride. A spokesman for Sears Canada said the Toronto store was the only one that had such a display. Sears doesn't do gay-pride displays in the U.S...

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