It looks like back-to-school sales are going to be WAY DOWN this year. According to a Deloitte survey we saw on developer Madison Marquette’s blog, 71% of those polled said they plan to spend less. And apparel will take the biggest hit, with 83% of the responders saying that that is where they will make a majority of cuts.
Not surprisingly, the poll found that high gas and food prices are driving this. Will we continue to see the Wal-Marts of the world do well in this environment and clothing chains and department stores suffer? You can check out the full survey below. Enjoy.
Counter Culture 
I don’t think anyone is surprised with this news. Like food, clothing costs are going up ostensibly because transportation costs (read: GAS prices) are adding to the overhead of most everything.
Families pressed by this economy are embracing practical reality that many consumers did just as a matter of course not so long ago.
I grew up in a family of five kids in the 60’s and 70’s and I swear I have a hard time not remembering I didn’t wear my brothers’passed-down clothes. They weren’t called “vintage” or “gently used” or “inherited” or “re-purposed,” the clothes were called, gasp, “hand-me-downs!”
I wore them, however faded, ill-fitting, because I had no choice – just like many of the families, kids in the neighborhood. We were all in the same boat. There wasn’t the money for new clothes (much like now, yes?).
Many schools seem to be steering toward uniforms, so is there some kind of relief there? Reality is that parents may not need 5 sets of school clothes for a week for their kids, but uniforms cost $$$$ too, and I don’t know if there’s an economy of scale or trade-off.
Regarding uniforms: Uniforms help some problems that students (and their parents) have involving clothes. (being picked on for not having the “right” clothes, paying rediculous prices to the the “right” clothes, being late for not knowing what to wear, and other things that seem trivial to grown-ups, but major deals to our children who live through it.)
However, I wouldn’t say that uniforms are a cost saver…3 shirts, 2 shorts, 2 pants, 1 capri, 1 jumper = $151.92.
Yes, some parents can afford to spend $150 on, perhaps, one outfit at Macy’s, Nordstrom, Ambercrombie, etc. But this isn’t much of a cost savings for parents who are accustomed to getting the same number of items at walmart for a total of $57.95.
Makes me want to take a little capital and start buying from the apparel company’s overstock (there should be a lot of that out there) and selling it for a moderate markup. Maybe something like a one price apparel company like 99cents Only but for $5.99 and up.