Parents and businesses brace for back to school shopping
Aug 21, 2008 - 07:44 AM
By Melissa Mancini
DURHAM -- It’s that time of year again.
Parents are thinking about buying pencils, backpacks and new jeans and retailers are lining the shelves with supplies and stacking the racks with popular styles.
All this can add up to great expense, especially for parents with multiple youngsters returning to school.
Robin Klaas, a mother of four school-aged kids, said the back-to-school rush can get pricey. She thinks all the sales and advertisements are mostly hype.
The real cost, she said, comes when school starts. That’s when all her children need cash for everything from trips to school pictures, sports fees to a lock for their lockers.
“I am constantly giving out money,” she said.
These fixed fees can send some parents looking for ways to save.
Larissa Bateman, mother of two, said she has found a way. The self-described “consignment junky” shops for gently used or new clothes at resale stores for her six-year-old daughter and six-month-old son.
As she wheels a stroller through the aisles at Once Upon a Child, a store for resale clothing in Whitby, she looks for deals.
“When others see what I have bought they often say ‘Oh my gosh, those clothes are brand new’,” she said.
She is often able to score merchandise that still has the tags on, she said.
With gas, food and energy prices rising, studies show many may be looking for back to school shopping alternatives like second-hand shopping. One study by TNS Retail Forward says customers will be spending less this year. Parents plan to spend about $506 on school-related items, compared to $668 last year.
But Toni Azzopardi, part owner of the Whitby Once Upon a Child store, said they are not noticing a drop in sales. In fact she said they have been busier than ever because more people are looking for value to make up for higher prices elsewhere.
The average shopper leaves with seven to eight items, she said.
And often these items are brand new with the original store’s tags on them, Ms. Azzopardi said.
“People often sell us items their kids haven’t had a chance to wear,” she said.
A recent release from Ernst and Young, provider of advisory services for businesses, said businesses need to adapt to the changing Canadian market. Consumers are seeking value to offset decreases in discretionary income and successful retailers will need to realize that, said a release from the company.
For consumers like Ms. Bateman value is what she looks for when she shops used. She makes sure her daughter gets some new pieces of clothing but adds value to her wardrobe by shopping ahead of time and buying a few sizes bigger when she sees a deal.
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