Back-to-school shopping now has a second wave
— -- Nervous freshman Lindsey Bergholz stepped into high school last month with her wardrobe of new back-to-school clothes at the minimum: one pair of jeans.
It isn't that the ninth-grader at Hinsdale Central High School in suburban Chicago doesn't care about what she wears to school. She cares deeply. So deeply that she opted to join many of her peers nationwide in putting off most of their back-to-school apparel shopping until after school starts — after they've seen what's cool.
"You don't want the same shirt that 12 other kids have," says Lindsey, 14, adding that she found herself in that embarrassing situation last year. "But you want to fit in. You're safest if you wait."
Now, Lindsey and millions of kids nationwide are still doing back-to-school clothes shopping in mid- and late September. Some have barely started.
The fear of being uncool appears to have upended apparel shopping habits for the $7.6 billion back-to-school season — the second-most-lucrative season for apparel retailers after the holidays. In 2005, 36% of consumers said they started back-to-school shopping in August, while 25% said they started in September, reported a survey by retail researcher The NPD Group. By 2007, the numbers had flipped, to 25% planning to start in August and 38% in September, according to NPD's online survey of 63,000 consumers in July and August.
Retailers would appear to have little choice but to extend the back-to-school season.
The shift in spending habits has been building. Trends are so localized that what's cool at one school may be totally different at a campus across town. Some students also are holding off while waiting for sales or cooler weather. Others spread out the spending of back-to-school gift cards from parents who want their kids to learn how to live within a limited clothing budget.
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