Hillary and Kendall Kaufman could not wait to start shopping. The girls from Chicago had been looking forward to this trip to the Mall of America for weeks.
"The kids cleaned out and had a garage sale so that's what they're using their money to do back to school shopping," their mother Denise said. "I think their budget is like $250 each. We'll see what they get for that," she added.
University of St. Thomas Marketing Professor Dave Brennan says they'll find some deals, but they won't find the deep discounts that holiday shoppers took advantage of last December.
"Retailers have brought their inventories into line with what the actual sales are rather than overbuying so we're not going to see those 30 to 40% discounts," Brennan explained.
The National Retail Federation says 85% of American consumers say they've changed the way the "back to school shop" this year. Brennan agrees. "Most estimates for going back to school are about 8% lower than they were last year. What we see is some reluctance, but it is not over reluctance," he said.
Brennan says discount retailers have the edge on this season; he's expecting Walmart to do well and Target and Kohl's to also see some okay numbers.
The National Retail Federation says the average American family will spend $168 on clothes, $94 on shoes, and $83 on school supplies.
Retailers, Brennan notes, are happy because the start of school gets the customer back in the door. "Back to school is absolutely one of the most dependable shopping events of the year," he said.
(Copyright 2009 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
