GRAND CHUTE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – With her smartphone in hand, mother of three Michelle Burns headed to Meijer in Grand Chute, on Tuesday, to check things off the school supply lists.
“I have one at high school, middle school and elementary. So yeah, we’ll have, probably a cartload of supplies by the end. And then, I’m a teacher so, I always buy a little extra.”
Inside the cart so far were binders, glue, and notebooks.
“We started with backpacks so the oldest reused hers and then the other two got new ones this year but, yeah, those can be pretty pricey as well.”.
A National Retail Federation survey shows the total combined planned spending for back-to-school and back-to-college shoppers is $80.7 billion.
The survey went on to say families with children in elementary school through high school plan to spend an average of $696.70.
That’s up almost $13 from last year.
“We’re seeing is it’s all about pop so that’s personalization, organization, and personality,” said Jeff Kietzman, Meijer store director.
Kietzman tells FOX 11 one trend among some students is to stand out.
“Anything from fashion to clothing to fashionable stylized design.”
The National Retail Federation says sometimes families wait to buy school supplies because of better deals but Burns says sometimes the longer you wait, the fewer supplies you have to choose from.
“We usually start doing our school supply shopping right when supplies start coming out… when those ads start coming out. We got a late start and things are picked over.”
She says there’s still more back to school shopping to do.
