Overland Park ? If The Gap is wondering why its stock is down 11 percent from a year ago and why Limited Too’s is up 33 percent, maybe it should go to the source: its teen customers.

The Gap? Sparse selection that is too much like last year. Limited Too? Fashionable, inexpensive, nice displays.

Some junior and senior students at Blue Valley North High School gave those opinions and more as part of a research study Tuesday conducted by a national retail analyst.

U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray analyst Jeffrey Klinefelter has been conducting the surveys with students across the country for 2 years. About 700 to 1,000 high school students in 15 cities participate in the biannual “Taking Stock with Teens” project. The results will be released in mid-October.

This was the first time a Kansas City-area school has participated. Klinefelter said he found the right school contact, Cyndi Langford, who teaches marketing and finance.

Langford’s goal is to give the students lifelong skills they can apply to real-life situations.

“They are learning more about how they spend their money,” she said.

Piper Jaffray also selects schools by the demographics of the area, household income, whether a major mall is located in the area and has several of the stores the analysts are following.

Klinefelter said his investors knew what the stocks did last year. His research will help them predict what the stocks will do. Then they can decide whether to buy, sell or hold their investments.

“The student feedback is significant data that I combine with other research,” Klinefelter said. Other data include overall retail sales, consumer confidence, competitive information and his “gut feelings.”

Hands-on research

First, Klinefelter discussed retail stocks and his job as an analyst. Then the students filled out a survey about their shopping behavior such as what influences them to make purchases, how much of their funds are spent on what items and how that compares to a year ago.

A second survey looked at their brand preference. The top teen stores were rated on prices, trendiness of clothes, and whether the students buy at regular price or on sale.

Then the 36 students took a bus to Oak Park Mall in Overland Park. They had a list of 18 teen stores to visit and 15 categories in which to rate them.

Was the store busy? How was the fashion level? Were the window displays interesting? What surprised them most about the store? Would they recommend the store to a friend?

“About $250 billion annually is spent on ‘Generation Y,’ ages 10 to 24,” Klinefelter said. “So a number of retailers are trying to grab a share of that market.”

From the sources

The Gap? Many of the students said the styles never changed from year to year.

Limited Too? Fashionable, very cheap, good shirt displays.

Gadzooks? Not trendy and cheap-looking clothes.

And Guess? Cute but expensive clothes.

“I love it,” said Lauren Kurlbaum, 17, a Leawood senior who pays for most of her own clothes with money from a part-time job. “If I was rich, I would come in here every day.”

Junior Jenna Schalansky, 17, of Overland Park, also rated Express Men’s prices expensive but not as high as she expected.

“They have nice clothes. Cute,” she said.

Senior Laura Becerra, 18, of Overland Park, liked the “comfortable, gangster type” clothes at Express Men.

“And Rave, it has everything you’d want and is very cheap,” Becerra said.

But another student would not even enter the store, saying that it was too crowded.

Buy, sell, trade

After returning to the school, the students offered their recommendations for “buy, sell or trade” in a fourth survey. Hollister Co., Express and American Eagle Outfitters were high on the “buy” list for “better than last year and getting better.” The company most considered in decline? Abercrombie & Fitch, owners of Hollister Co.

The students also now see more of a correlation between the clothes they buy and how it affects a company.

“And I’m a lot more aware of prices and marketing and what they are trying to get us to buy,” Schalansky said. “They have sales on things that are less popular.”