Families Spending Less On Back-To-School Shopping
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - It's the middle of July, but some families have already started their back-to-school shopping.
Spending has grown 42 percent in the last decade. But this year, families plan to cut back.
According to a new survey by the National Retail Federation, the average family with students in elementary school through 12th grade plans to spend about $630 this year on electronics, clothes and school supplies.
That's about $39 less than last year.
The survey found that parents are taking inventory of their kids' school supplies and deciding what can be re-used.
With electronics, they say they don't need to restock every year.
WCCO headed to the Mall of America to speak with some shoppers about their budgets and their strategies.
The Leas family, from central Wisconsin, has five kids under the age of 10, and they are in no hurry to start back-to-school shopping.
"We're last minute people, so last week or so," Jessica Leas said. "We just kind of have a lot going on, so usually it takes until then to get it all done."
There are signs that back-to-school shopping is on the horizon. Many retailers are already promoting sales on their websites, and they should.
The new survey shows that more than a third of shoppers will make some of their purchases online.
"You skip taking everybody out," Jessica Leas said. "It's a lot easier."
The survey shows this year more families say they will wait later to do their back-to-school shopping, like a week or two before the first day of class.
In Minnesota this year, the start dates for districts range quite a bit. Students in Minneapolis Public Schools will head back a full two weeks before Labor Day, on Aug. 24. But their counterparts in the St. Paul and Anoka-Hennepin public schools return to class on Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day.
"It happens every year; you can't get around it," Dustin Leas said. "There's always a new list of what they want or what the school wants. [It gets] very expensive very quickly."
The National Retail Federation also looked at college students and their purchases.
It found that they too will be spending less on new electronic devices. Apparently last year lots of folks bought new tablets and iPads and phones, and they won't be getting new ones this year.