Inflation weighs on back-to-school buying
NEW YORK — To understand the impact of surging inflation on this year’s back-to-school spending, look no further than children’s rain boots with motifs like frogs and ladybugs made by Washington Shoe Co.
Spending held steady for these evergreen items even after the business based in Kent, Wash., was forced to pass along 15 percent price increases in January to its retail clients because of soaring transportation costs. But by May, as gas and food prices also surged, shoppers abruptly shifted away from the $35 higher-end rain boots to the no-frills versions that run $5 to $10 cheaper, its CEO Karl Moehring said.
“We are seeing consumers shift down,” said Moehring, noting dramatic 20 percent sales swings in opposite directions for both types of products. “Wages are not keeping up with inflation.”
This back-to-school shopping season, parents — particularly in the low to middle income bracket — are focusing on the basics while also trading down to cheaper stores amid surging inflation, which hit a new 40-year high in June.
Inflation has squeezed household finances for Jessica Reyes, 34, who took her daughters Jalysa, 7, and Jenesis, 5, to a “Back to School Bash” event last month in the Chicago’s northside that offered free backpacks filled with supplies for students.
“I feel like everything is going up these days,” she said at the event. “We’re a one-income household right now … so I think it’s greatly affected us in all areas, in bills and in house necessities and school necessities.”
Earlier, Manny Colon and his daughters Jubilee, 8, and Audrey, 5, stopped by the back-to-school event to pick out backpacks.
Colon, 38, works at his daughters’ elementary school. He said his spouse has had to pick up extra work because of high prices for school supplies, groceries and gas.
“I think it’s definitely impacted us,” he said.
Multiple forecasts point to a solid back-to-school shopping season. Still, higher prices are propping up much of the numbers.
Back 2 School America, an Illinois-based nonprofit that distributes back-to-school kits to kids from low-income families, has seen “a significant increase in costs of supplies,” including a 10 percent increase from their vendor with another possible mark-up on the way, said the organization’s CEO Matthew Kurtzman. And shipping costs have been on the rise as well.