Back-to-school shopping getting high marks

Office Depot began seeing heavy back-to-school traffic during the last two weeks of July.  That not so coincidentally was the start of the Sales Tax Holiday season — for retailers, a holiday within a holiday given the crowds it brings into stores. Currently thirteen states have declared these ‘holidays’ to coincide with back-to-school shopping.

“They are very popular events,” confirms Verenda Smith, government affairs associate with the Federation of Tax Administrators in Washington, D.C. States use them to help ease the financial burden of back-to-school spending. “People who wouldn’t think of crossing the street for a 5 percent off sale will take the whole day off from work to save the sales tax on select purchases,” she notes.

Realistically, with savings of about $20 being realized on $400 worth of school supplies and clothing, not only will such savings not fill the gas tank of the family minivan, they offer little relief to families actually struggling to load their children’s backpacks for school. 

For those families, retailers like Office Depot donate supplies for distribution through a variety of local organizations across the country. “Some of our stores even sponsor supplies drives at the local level,” says Kramer.  At the corporate level, the retailer plans to distribute 300,000 supply-filled backpacks this year.

Among the organizations helping to distribute those backpacks is the SHOPA Kids in Need Foundation. SHOPA also accepts donations from individuals, local groups and excess inventory from any size retailer.  Communities In Schools, the nation’s largest stay-in-school organization, is also working with Office Depot and individuals at the community level to gather supplies and cash donations.

Regardless of where or when one does back-to-school shopping, SHOPA thinks it offers an opportunity to demonstrate the importance of strategic spending to kids. They suggest involving school-age children in planning purchases and making a game of comparison shopping.  According to SHOPA, even the dreaded back-to-school shopping trip can serve as quality family time and lead the way to a lifetime of financial savvy, which truly is a bargain.

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