Tap into back-to-school mindset for shopping parents |

English, writing and arithmetic; ABCs and 123s; and furnishing apartments during high-inflationary times.

It’s back-to-school season, and every store is filled with parents and students looking to outfit dorm rooms, at-home classrooms and backpacks. While the backpacks may not matter to furniture and mattress world (unless some child is looking to sneak a pillow into the classroom), the first two should.

Oh, and let’s not forget the hoards of consumers out and about, popping into various stores in search of various and sundry things to make their fledglings comfortable while away at school or while studying at home.

Items like desk chairs, study lamps, bookcases all have homes in today’s dorm rooms, but other things like mattresses, dressers, desks, kitchen tables, sofas, chairs and more are finding homes in off-campus apartments and rental homes. Some students don’t win (or lose, depending on the kids’ perspective) the housing lottery, and off-campus living becomes key.

While this year may be more “normal” — it’s only a setting on a clothes dryer, hence the quotation marks — for residing in dorms after the past couple of years of lower-than-allowed occupancy rates because of the pandemic, university campuses are notoriously short on dorm rooms. Some students are pushed into off-campus living to accommodate first- and second-year students.

One of my guys will be returning to high school this week, and we’ve spent a lot of time in stores and online perusing and buying school supplies, clothes, shoes — my favorite — and a new desk chair to accommodate his suddenly taller frame.

The University of South Carolina, here in our backyard, started early move-ins this weekend bringing some 8,000 new bodies to the city adding to the mix of consumers. The stores are shopping districts are filled with overflowing carts, full SUVs, frazzled parents and giddy students. I can only imagine what the Charlotte Ikea store — a little over an hour away — looked like leading up to the weekend, and I steered clear of the Bed Bath & Beyond here in town.

According to the 2022 Deloitte Back-to-School and Back-to-College surveys, the accounting firm reported that consumers were concerned about inflation, and figures indicate that the cost of sending students back to school would be about 8% higher than last year. Back-to-college shoppers are expected to spend $28.3 billion, or about $1,600 per student this year. That’s a 10% increase from those surveyed last year, according to the surveys conducted this summer with 1,200 parents with students in kindergarten through 12th grade and 950 parents of college students.

The survey revolving around college-age students offers some concern for the home furnishings segment. That increased spending is going toward technology products (up 22% from last year); household appliances and supplies (up 12%); and clothing (up 10%). The predicted amount spent on dorm or apartment furniture and supplies took a tumble from last year, dropping 15%.

Despite the downward trend on the amount spent, consumers are hitting the pavement searching for deals. They are out there, and they are ready to buy. Let’s face it. Every parent wants their child to be successful in school, and we all know the foundation to success is a solid night’s sleep, not a subject in which most college students excel.

Take advantage of the extra consumer traffic. Stock up on some cash-and-carry pillows and boxed mattresses for those last-minute shoppers looking to give their student a solid foundation for success in the classroom. Those are heartstrings that can turn into in-store sales.

Happy back-to-school season!

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