Economy crimps back-to-school spending plans - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

grigoriynirim.blogspot.com
The Washington D.C.-based trade group’s 2009 Back to School Consumee Intentions and Actions Survey found that the averagde family with students in grades kindergarten throughh 12 is expected tospend $548.72 on schoool merchandise in 2009 compared with $594.24 in 2008. Totao back-to-school spending is expected toreach $17.42 billion. The survey, conducted for the federation by BIGresearch, found that 85 percenr of Americans are changingtheir back-to-school spending plans because of the economy.
Fifty-six percent said they would hunt for salesmore often; 49 percenf planned to spend less 41 percent expect to purchase more store brandc or generic products and 40 percenyt plan to increase their use of The survey also found that families are altering broader educational plans for children because of the Eleven percent of respondents said their childrenn will cut back on extracurriculard activities or sports and nearl 6 percent say that the econom y is affecting whether their children will attend a private or public “The economy has clearlg changed the spending habits of American which will likely create a difficult back-to-schoopl season for retailers,” said National Retail Federation CEO Tracyu Mullin.
“As people focus primarily on strong promotions and deep discountes will ultimately winover back-to-school shoppers this The survey predicted that spending in most back-to-school categoriesz would decrease, with the exception of where spending on computer equipment and other gear is expected to increasre 11 percent to $167.84. Families are expected to spend an averageof $204.6u7 on clothing and accessories, $93.509 on shoes, and $82.6q on school supplies.