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Jeff Green Partners

A LEADER IN RETAIL REAL ESTATE FEASIBILITY

jgreen@jeffgreenpartners.com

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back-to-school shopping

Shoppers hit stores on first day of tax-free weekend

Gary Dinges / Austin-American Statesman – Bargain hunters of all ages swarmed Central Texas stores Friday, the first day of the state’s tax-free weekend.

Through Sunday, retailers aren’t charging state and local sales taxes on most clothing and school supplies priced less than $100. In most cities, including Austin, that means shoppers will save 8.25 cents for each dollar they spend.

Over the course of the three-day weekend, the state comptroller’s office estimates Texans will save $82.7 million.

At the Tech Ridge JCPenney, located at 12351 N. Interstate 35 in North Austin, shoppers showed up as early as 9 a.m. The store was ready, manager Melanie Wergin said, with all merchandise in the stockroom moved to the sales floor, extra registers and additional employees, including some seasonal workers hired specifically for back-to-school season.

Pass or Fail?

As an article that recently appeared in Chain Store Age has noted, there is something interesting going on with back-to-school shopping this year. At a time when online sales seem to be inexorably chipping away at brick-and-mortar sales, taking a bigger bite with every passing year, the 2014 back-to-school shopping season has actually seen the exact opposite trend: the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) states that “the share of online as a BTS shopping venue will be 8.1% this year — a drop from last year’s 8.6%.” Overall, brick-and-mortar retail sales are projected to make up about 90% of all back-to-school shopping.

Additionally, the continued expansion of the back-to-school shopping window has some potentially significant implications for many retailers, who need to think and plan strategically to maximize their promotional efforts and optimize their merchandising. Instead of a busy couple of weeks, the back-to-school season is now a prolonged period of heightened activity: closer to months than weeks. In this edition of Retail Rap, the question remains: “Will that longer shopping window translate to more sales?” There the forecast is a little cloudier. While people do seem to be buying earlier, there are differences of opinion as to whether that means they will be buying more. ICSC and the National Retail Foundation (NRF) are expecting varying outcomes of this year’s back-to-school spending.

In this edition of Retail Rap, I consider the growing trend of consumers buying discount retail over specialty retail and how online shopping may begin to decrease and brick-and-mortar retail to increase in the coming back-to-school seasons, this year included.

Back-to-school fever builds before tax-free days

Justine Griffin / Herald-Tribune – It’s less than a month until the back-to-school holiday shopping season kicks off with a tax-free weekend for Florida shoppers.

School supplies, clothing and some electronics will be exempt from sales tax at retail stores in Florida Aug. 1-3.

Shoppers won’t pay sales tax when they buy apparel — up to $100 per item, which is new this year — and on computers and other electronics that cost $750 or less

School supplies, such as pencils, backpacks and notepads, are tax-free at $15 per item.

The Numbers Game

Believe it or not (and I can barely believe it myself), the critical back-to-school period at the end of summer is right around the corner. While back-to-school is always big for retailers, this year’s period could be an especially important one, as 2014 has been underwhelming so far. As I started to consider the issue, what […]

Shopping forecasts don’t thrill retailers

Justine Griffin/Sarasota Herald-Tribune—Economic uncertainty surrounding the government shutdown has been pushing American consumers to take a conservative approach to spending this holiday season. The National Retail Federation predicts that the average shopper will spend $737.95 on gifts, holiday-themed decor, greeting cards and more this year, down from the $752.24 average shoppers spent in 2012. The […]

Government shutdown affecting shopping patterns

Justine Griffin/Sarasota Herald-Tribune—Economic uncertainty surrounding the government shutdown is pushing American consumes to take a conservative approach to spending this holiday season. The National Retail Federation predicts that the average shopper will spend $737.95 on gifts, holiday-themed decor, greeting cards and more this year, which is two percent less than the $752.24 average shoppers spent […]