Retailers hope sales perk up in August

— -- Retailers are hoping back-to-school buying this month will offset sluggish sales in July.

People usually spend more money in August as the school year gets closer, says Ellen Davis, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation. "Parents view back-to-school shopping as a necessity, not a luxury," meaning they'll do it but will put it off as long as they can. "Most college students haven't even started their shopping yet."

Back-to-school season is the second-most-important selling period for retailers, right behind the holiday season in November and December, the NRF says. Families with school-age children say they expect to spend an average $563.49 this back-to-school season, about $36 more than last year, according to a BIGresearch survey conducted for the NRF.

But they didn't appear to have spent much of that in July as the back-to-school season got off to a sluggish start, according to reports released Thursday. Especially hard hit: mall specialty stores, reporting July sales plummeted compared with a year ago. American Eagle aeo posted a 6% drop in sales. Sales at Gap gps stores open more than a year slid 7%. Teen clothing stores Hot Topic hott and Aéropostale aro also reported dips in sales.

Discount retailers had better results. Wal-Mart wmt reported a 1.9% rise in same-store sales, while Target's sales were up 6.1%.

There's still some time left in the back-to-school season, depending on when school starts. About 45% of families planned to start their shopping three weeks to a month before school starts, the BIGresearch survey found. Clothing stores could see an increase in August sales as they put more clearance merchandise on the racks, says retail analyst Bob Gordman, president of the Gordman Group. "Sometimes, they sell a lot of inventory early in the summer season and don't have as much in July," which can depress sales.

The reasons for July's sales results are complicated, retail analysts say. The slumping housing market and a difficult economy have consumers stretching their dollars as much as possible, says Bob Buchanan, industry group leader for A.G. Edwards. "People are not finding the best values at the mall."

Several states, including Texas and Florida, also moved their state tax holidays to later in August, so many people are waiting to do their shopping, analysts say.

And the oppressive summer heat could have kept people at home rather than out shopping, says Madison Riley of retail consulting firm Kurt Salmon Associates.

Numbers for August may be lowered by the timing for this year's sales reports, Buchanan says. Stores such as Target tgt, Kohl's and Macy's m reported July sales a week later this year, which shortens the August sales period.

Contributing: Wire reports