`We’re back!”
That’s the message that will ring throughout classrooms in a few weeks as school resumes after summer vacation.
And something else is back that goes hand-in-hand with each new academic year: back-to-school shopping. This eight- to nine-week period represents the second-largest shopping season of the year. If you’re buying clothes and supplies for several children, you already know the task ahead is no picnic.
But the retailers waiting to welcome you into their stores do have some helpful advice.
“Timing isn’t necessarily of the essence, but we were set up for back-to-school by the middle of July,” said Wal-Mart spokesman Keith Morris.
Morris says shopping early may be a good idea–not only to have a better selection to choose from but also to avoid the last-minute rush some people put themselves through.
“I’m talking about the August vacation people, who come back with less than a week before school opens,” Morris said. “It would probably make the vacation less stressful to know the school shopping was already finished.”
Prices don’t fluctuate as much as some people think, Morris insists. School supplies, in particular, remain fairly constant, though there are individual bargains from time to time.
An ever-more-popular staple of school supplies is the book bag or backpack. Morris said that significant numbers of packs are sold each year, and their numbers are increasing. Check stitching, zippers, clasps; see if seams are reinforced. A cheap bag will break before Christmas, and two cheap ones probably cost more than one good one.
Margie Taucher has worked for six years in a Learning Post store in Bloomingdale, a school supply store open to the public. She is a also a first-grade teacher with a wealth of experience and shopping tips.
“Kids go through things faster the younger they are,” she says. “Their favorite color crayons get used up, and they leave the caps off their markers and they dry up. I’d buy two of those things now, especially if they’re on sale.”
Taucher says students like to pick out their own folders and other supplies. It might be prudent to allow them to shop with you to avoid taking items back.
“Absolutely stay with the list schools give you,” Taucher said. “Teachers know how much room kids will have in their desks, and the parent that buys extra stuff runs the risk of taking it back because there’s no place to store it.”
Dave Skonieczny, the assistant manager at the Target store in Glendale Heights, says that stores throughout the chain have “Back-to-School Zones.” One store had a 20-by-8-foot display of Crayola Crayons and markers proclaiming they “make going back to school cool.”
With so many “SKUs” (those hooks with tags telling you the name and bar-coded price of the item) in the aisles, it’s hard not toto find the exact pen or refill you need.
Target carries items they call ESUs–extra special values–that allow shoppers to save money by buying quantities of basic supplies without all the bells and whistles. They are clearly tagged in the aisles.
Look for stores that have a complete list of all the public schools in the area and what their required supplies are.
One mother who was shopping said that she gets the supply list from her school at registration time, and then watches store ads for the best deals.
Try to consolidate supplies if possible; half-used reams of notebook paper are still useful, and an older sibling may still have scissors, glue and tape that aren’t used up and certainly not worn out.
“Look at what you’ve bought in the past, and see how quickly you’ve used it up,” said Morris. “If you’re always running out, buy more of it now and avoid having to go back. Cut out the things you didn’t use.”
Try storing cardboard or paper folders in a zipper trapper or a stiff three-ring binder. Avoid overstuffing the folders and the binder and they will last longer. Consider pens and mechanical pencils that are both refillable; consolidate crayon collections along with markers and erasers.
Lunch boxes featuring the latest Disney character are sometimes useless before spring once the movie rush is over. Retailers say Igloo-type boxes that keep lunch meat and drink temperature more stable may be a wiser investment.
Clothing is typically the other half of the back-to-school equation. Says Michelle Jasukaitis, a fashion spokeswoman for Kmart: “Besides the usual school supplies, we’re introducing a new line of clothing called Route 66–an exclusive brand of denim-type clothing. We carry the line for infants on up through adults.”
And many Target stores have “targeted” their communities by specifically stocking clothes that local schools required in their dress codes.
Ed Solczak, who manages a J.C. Penney store in St. Charles, says his company offers a convenient method of supplying clothing.
“Because of the distribution deals we have with our suppliers, we carry virtually any size and color of any item a customer is looking for,” said Solczak. “We are backed up by our catalog sales, which no one else offers. If the store is out of that item, we can get it from the catalog and have it shipped right to the customer’s house in two to three days.”
Other quick tips:
– Have your teenager hold back on buying one or two clothing items; once school starts, kids check out the latest fashion and want to buy it.
– Contact your local school district for its “shopping list” before buying–especially if this is your first year at the school.
– Some schools sell a pack of supplies they require for a set price; buy it, and you’ll save time and probably not spend any more money than if you went to a retailer.
– Set aside $25 to $50 for school supplies per child and you won’t be surprised at the cash register.
