School Days Creating School Daze Among Retailers

Friday 24th of July 2009 02:35:36 AM

School is starting soon in the US and it’s time to by uniforms, school supplies and new footwear. Retail sales have shown poor performance over the last year and store owners hope the start of school will change the story. Parents who have done without many things over the last twelve months realize that many school item purchases cannot be postponed. That is why retailers hope the parents of school age children will open up their purses and wallets and buy the clothing, electronics, and supplies needed.

With the onset of the recession and the loss of jobs and savings, many households have drastically reduced their level of spending. The savings rate is up around the world which is good for the households but bad for retailers. On and offline retailers don’t survive when people stop spending money which is why there has been so many bankruptcies. Some retailers are barely managing to survive and the success of school supply buying season will determine their fates.

In the US, the period from the middle of July to the beginning of September is normally a major sales period because of the start of school. As Target Corp. of Minneapolis spokeswoman Jana O’Leary said, "It's traditionally one of our busiest times and we are hoping for good things this year.” The retail stores need a good school sales season to tide them over until the holiday season starting with Halloween and continuing through Christmas. Unfortunately the sales forecast is not good due to the continuing recession. In fact, the National Retail Federation projected sales to be 7.7 percent lower this year than in 2008.

One thing is certain though and that is consumers will be looking for values like inexpensive t-shirt printing or school uniforms and work clothing. That is precisely why online retail sales continue to grow even as storefront retailers struggle to survive.