Back to $chool

The grocery store has been eating Suzanne Hales' cash for back-to-school fashions — so the single mother of five sought specials on a $500 budget, with the oldest child paying for her own clothes.

"We're just going to shop at Target and grab some socks and stuff at Wal-Mart," the Draper mom said. "There won't be any fun trips to the Gap or stuff like that."

But her discount-store strategy didn't work. The $500 was gone after buying 20 jeans on sale at Old Navy, four pairs of new shoes and two backpacks. Hales' children still needed socks, underwear and a couple of shirts.

She bought them Saturday, with the help of a Target gift card. Her 7-year-old daughter, who can't get more than one pair of new shoes to match her outfits, is complaining.

Many Utah parents will tread the same path as they help their children prepare for the start of the school year. More than 80 percent of Americans plan to spend less on back-to-school clothes this year, according to an online poll this summer that was commissioned by Deloitte LLP, whose companies provide financial, tax and other services.

About 90 percent of the people surveyed said they would shop at discount or value department stores, and 37 percent planned to shop at dollar stores.

"These survey results indicate that consumers will likely stick to the basics this fall, and parents may be saying 'no' more often as they head to the register," Stacy Janiak, Deloitte's U.S. retail leader, said last month in releasing the results of the survey of 5,035 consumers.

The survey, which has a margin of error of 1 percent, attributed the shoppers' pullback to rising food and gas prices. Declining home values and a shaky job market also are making consumers wary of spending much.

"It will probably be one of the two or three most disappointing back-to-school seasons this decade," said retail consultant Burt Flickinger III, managing director of Strategic Research Group. "It will be very promotional. Consumers are more cash- and credit-constrained than any other time in U.S. history."

Retailers are pulling out all the stops to entice shoppers into their stores during a difficult back-to-school season. Department stores are increasing sales and promotions, Office Depot and Staples are offering supplies for free or for pennies, and Sam's Club is giving college students a $15 gift card if they enroll.

The promotions come after retailers' July sales showed a shift away from clothing and toward food and other basics. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. posted solid gains for July, but Wal-Mart's sales still fell short of forecasts. Sales at mall stores Limited Brands Inc. and Gap Inc. continue to fall.

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