Shoppers waiting longer for back-to-school purchases

A CUSTOMER LOOKS OVER back-to-school merchandise. / BLOOMBER FILE PHOTO/DAVID PAUL MORRIS
A CUSTOMER LOOKS OVER back-to-school merchandise. / BLOOMBER FILE PHOTO/DAVID PAUL MORRIS

Stuart Solup has been running Irving’s Shoe Store in Portsmouth since the 1970s, and in that time he’s had a keen view of back-to-school shopping trends. In fact, Solup says that the back-to-school season accounts for about 30 percent of his yearly business.
So he’d know if rumors were true that this year families were waiting to shop until after school began – spurred in part by a slow start to the shopping season.
“[No]. They’re getting it done ahead of time, over here anyway,” the fourth-generation owner of the shop said. “It’s been steady, and we’ve been doing very well.”
Solup spoke about his store’s success on Sept. 4, the day after Labor Day, which traditionally marks the end of the back-to-school shopping period, historically one of retail’s strongest behind the Christmas season.
The National Retail Federation’s 2012 Back-to-School spending survey estimated that school-centered shopping this year will total $83.8 billion.
That figures includes spending on children attending elementary and high schools as well as teenagers and young adults entering or returning to college.
The NRF is a trade association based in Washington, D.C., that represents the United States retail industry as well as that industry in 45 other countries.
The survey, conducted by BIGinsight, an Ohio consumer insight firm, reported that, on average, those with children in grades K-12 were expected to spend about $688 on their children.
And contrary to Solup’s experience, shoppers across the nation seem to be holding off. The association reported that in mid-August, the average shopper for children in grades K-12 had completed 40.1 percent of their shopping and that those buying for college students had finished 45.3 percent of their shopping.
But by the same time in 2011, K-12 shoppers had finished 43 percent of their shopping.
This year, 7.8 percent of shoppers had finished back-to-school shopping. In 2011, 11.8 percent had done the same by mid August.
“It’s evident that there are plenty ‘last-minute shoppers’ this year,” said Matthew Shay, NRF president and CEO in a statement. “Given how much of an impact the economy is having on consumers’ buying decisions, retailers will remain competitive up through the final sale after Labor Day.” In Rhode Island, public schools opened their year between Aug. 27 and Sept. 6. Roughly 80 percent of districts opened before Labor Day.
The first day of school in Portsmouth was Aug. 28, and since Solup was still welcoming rushes of customers post-Labor Day, it was clear that some families did wait until after their children’s’ first day to make purchases.
But it wasn’t due to any marketed sales.
“We didn’t run any specials, but we were busy,” Solup said. “I find people are buying the things as they need them. They aren’t buying extra items.”
Paul DeRoche, senior vice president of government relations for the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, said that half of the retailers he has spoken to this season have seen some brisk clothing sales but that half have noticed no real difference over last year.
He worried that Massachusetts’ two-day tax-free holiday in early August could have sent some shoppers across the state line and that those shoppers might have done the bulk of their school shopping there.
“The bright spot is that there were pockets of brisk sales, so we have to go by that,” DeRoche said. “The economy is not booming and that had an impact on consumers.”
The NRF Back to School survey reported that consumers on average this year would spend about $129 on shoes for children in grades K-12.
Caitlyn Taylor, who has been co-manager at Berks Shoes on Thayer Street in Providence for eight years, said back-to-school shopping is a reliable business barometer.
This year, she said, has been the store’s best in recent memory.
“There was some sluggishness for a little bit in the last five years, but there’s definitely an upturn,” Taylor said. “I don’t know that I could say people are waiting [to buy]. You definitely see them coming in.”
For Berks Shoes, which also sells clothing, the big business is in Providence’s colleges due to its East Side location near Brown University. Brown students trickle in the last week of August, Taylor said, and there is “high volume” over Labor Day weekend.
Sales continue into September, she said, due to the Rhode Island School of Design’s later start, this year on Sept. 12.
“[Customers] concentrate on getting their back-to-school shoes but they might mix [and] some are getting the whole gambit, like an outfit,” Taylor said. “They’re spending more, definitely.”
The NRF survey reported that this year’s back-to-college shoppers will have spent an average of $132.97 on apparel and accessories and that 71 percent of those shoppers, the highest in the survey’s history, will have bought new shoes, spending an average of $75.81.
The survey also identified trends such as an increase in department store shopping, with 54.4 percent of respondents visiting those this year compared with 47.1 percent in 2011. Online shopping also increased in popularity this year, with 27.2 percent of shoppers purchasing through websites compared with 21.7 percent last year.
Thrift stores or resale shops also are gaining customers. This year, 13.4 percent of shoppers were expected to visit those stores during the shopping season compared with 11.1 percent last year.
Crystal Gantz, who helped open Hope Returns, a children’s second-hand clothing and gift store on Hope Street in Providence, said business was about the same this year as last with the week before Labor Day seeing the heaviest traffic.
“We were very slow for the summer. The week before school people started doing the big shopping, not ahead of time at all,” Gantz said. “I think families like to be together and enjoy the summer, and now [school] is here and everyone is buying what they need.”
But Gantz expects that wait until it’s time approach will benefit her shop when her customers return later this season for winter gear.
“People don’t buy [now] for all of winter,” Gantz said. “They kind of hope it will be warmer and not [too] cold. The holidays start to come, and we get a boost of sales again.” •

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