Families stocking up for school clothing

CARSON CITY — Consumers are heading to stores to outfit their students with new clothes, backpacks and other back-to-school supplies.

Forecasts by the Retail Association of Nevada (RAN) estimate that this year, K-12 and college shoppers will spend $330.9 million on what is considered to be the second-biggest retail event of the year after the winter holidays. Nevada public schools start the new academic year as do most Nevada colleges and universities within the next two weeks.

RAN projects roughly $226 million in Nevada will be spent during K-12 shopping. Clothing and accessories is expected to be the largest spending category in the state at $78.1 million. Spending on electronics will likely be a close second at $70.7 million, followed by shoes ($42.2 million) and school supplies ($35.1 million).

Nationally, families with students in grades K-12 will spend $24.9 billion, according to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation with average spending per household expected to be $630.36. That estimate is down from $669.28 last year, suggesting families stocked up on needed school supplies and big-ticket electronics during a spike in spending in 2014. High school students are projected to be the most expensive for which to shop with an estimated $661.60 spent per household. Meanwhile, families will spend an average of $642.58 on middle school students and $533.07 on students in elementary school.

Despite the reduction in spending, consumers are more confident about the economy. The NRF survey found that of consumers shopping for K-12, 40.6 percent said the state of the economy will cause them to look for sales more often, which is down from 46.2 percent last year and the lowest since the NRF began tracking this metric in 2009.

“As we move further and further from the economic downturn, consumers are worrying less about the economy when making their buying decisions,” said Bryan Wachter, senior vice president of RAN. “A year ago, more than 30 percent of K-12 shoppers said they were spending less because of the economy. This year, that figure was down to 27 percent, the lowest since the middle of the downturn in 2009.”

With roughly 116,700 students enrolled in public and private colleges throughout Nevada, RAN estimates spending for students heading back to college will reach an estimated $105.0 million. Electronics is expected to be the largest spending category at $24.2 million, followed by clothing and accessories ($16.0 million), dorm and apartment furnishings ($14.7 million), and food and snacks ($13.8 million).

Nationwide, the NRF reports spending for college students is projected to reach $43.1 billion, with the average household spending $899.18. Similar to trends in K-12 spending, college estimates were down slightly, falling from $916.48 last year. Getting incoming college freshmen ready for their transition to campus life costs the most, with an average of $985.73 in spending. That figure is $732.62 for sophomores, $819.86 for juniors, $769.74 for seniors and $798.14 for graduate students.

Discount stores remain the most-popular back-to-school shopping destination with 62.2 percent of K-12 shoppers and 48.3 percent of college shoppers planning to stop there. Department stores are the second most popular destination with 56.4 percent of K-12 shoppers and 44.9 percent of college shoppers. Back-to-school shoppers can expect busy aisles for the next few weeks as 73.1 percent K-12 shoppers and 61.1 percent of college shoppers plan to hit the stores as early as one month and as late as one week before the start of classes.