School-supply kits save time, sanity
One-stop shopping costs more but can make back-to-school less taxing
A mother of four from North Kingstown, Rhode Island
It’s an end-of-summer ritual – exhausted parents, with cranky kids in tow, braving crowds to scavenge aisles for pencils, notebooks and glue and the other necessities of the school year.
But there’s one option that can make it easier: prepackaged kits of supplies that are sold online.
Companies such as Edukit and School Tool Box offer premade packages with various items, depending on grade, teacher and district.
“The box just shows up, and everything the teacher wants and everything you want are right there,” said Kimberly Calise, a mother of four from North Kingstown, Rhode Island. “You didn’t have to go anywhere or doing anything stressful.”
Illinois-based School Tool Box says it coordinates with about 1,500 schools across 43 states. Privately held EduKit, based in Colorado, declined to release details about their reach beyond saying they are a “national company and work in all states with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii.”
Here’s how it works: The companies coordinate with a school’s parent-teacher organization to get lists of what each teacher wants students to have.
“The box just shows up and everything the teacher wants and everything you want are right there.” Kimberly Calise
The kits include the exact items the teachers want – even down to a single yellow highlighter. Families can choose to purchase them from the PTOs or directly from company websites, or they can opt out entirely.
“That’s what you’re selling: You’re selling convenience, so parents don’t have to go get all these things,” Edukit President Al Alvares said.
That convenience is huge for Calise, who has to track down all the specific items on four different supply lists. With the kits, it’s all done for her. And, she added, with the time she reclaims from not having to do school shopping, she is able to spend more quality time with her kids.
However, while these kits may save time, they may not actually save money. Indeed, Alvares said Edukit packages were designed for families who value the ease of one-stop ordering over shopping around for the best deals.
For instance, the School Tool Box kit price from Lincoln Elementary’s kindergarten class in Plainfield, Illinois, would cost $53.09, almost double the $26.73 it cost to individually buy supplies on a recent Tuesday. And that doesn’t factor in travel time and expense.
A quick scan from USA TODAY’s New York office of store websites for the same items found that it would take trips to Target, Office Supply, Office Max, Clean It Supply and Walmart to find deals on all those items.
Families with children in kindergarten through 12th grade expect to spend an average of $684.79 this back-toschool season, from July to September, the NRF reports. Clothing is the biggest expense, with an average of $236.90.
But one-stop shopping online doesn’t click with everyone.
Elizabeth Lonergan, a mother of two from Hastings, Michigan, is a part of the 31 percent of consumers who look for in-store deals at retailers during back-to-school season, according to the National Retail Federation.
Even with a packed, busy schedule, Lonergan told USA TODAY, convenience isn’t a priority when it comes to school shopping with her daughters.
Rather, it’s about personalizing and trying to make it as special as possible.
“For me it’s not really even about the convenience anymore,” she says. “It’s about spending time with kids.”