Back to school means back to shopping
State’s sales tax holiday this weekend gives parents a chance to save
Alma Arroyave has come to know the summertime setups at Target and Walmart, where she has for years bought pens and notebooks to ready her two children for the first day of school.
But this year, the Cypress mom started her shopping with a new list in hand, a more expensive one that involved a lengthy trip to Bed Bath & Beyond. Her 19-yearold son will soon move into a dorm room at the University of Texas, while her 13-yearold daughter starts her final year of middle school.
“It’s a big transition year for us, with setting up a dorm room and getting all the supplies,” she said.
The back-to-school shopping season is expected to peak this weekend during the statewide sales tax holiday, an annual reprieve from the extra charge levied on clothing items, shoes and school supplies purchased in stores and online. The break, which starts Friday and ends Sunday, is projected to save shoppers $87 million in state and local taxes.
In Houston, back-toschool lists have become
especially costly. A recent Deloitte survey estimated that local shoppers will spend an average of $623 on classroom items, clothes, electronics and computers this season, 20 percent higher than the national average.
The disparity has occurred in part because Houston parents tend to begin shopping earlier, which increases the amount they’re likely to spend, Deloitte found. About two-thirds of local shoppers began buying supplies in July.
“If they shop sooner, they tend to spend more,” said Jeff Buhr, retail partner in Deloitte’s Houston office.
Though shoppers have for years been shifting more of their spending online, about a fifth of Houston parents expect to purchase more supplies in-store this year.
About two-thirds, however, will research items online before buying them in person, and e-commerce retailers have become about as popular as office supply stores and department stores for back-to-school goods, Deloitte found.
“They want to use that omnichannel experience,” Buhr said.
Arroyave finished most of her shopping last month, before her family vacation in August. Her middle-schooler required less than $75 in supplies, and the two of them shared the cost of a $100 backpack they purchased online. Her college student, however, needed a few hundred dollars’ worth of supplies and other necessities, a total that doesn’t include the cost of the laptop he’ll need for late-night essays and keeping in touch.
She said the back-toschool shopping season seems to be more of an ordeal than when her kids were younger. She was especially impressed with the college retailers, which have for years marketed themselves as one-stop shops for campus gear.
“I think (the season) has grown over the years,” she said. “The kids have more choices to personalize their own stuff and their own style.”