Consumer Back-to-School Spending Expected to Match Last Year's Sales

A July 25, 2006 article from NBC-5 (Chicago) reports that, while this year's consumers plan to start back-to-school shopping later in the summer than usual, the total amount spent is expected to be similar to last year. Based on a recent report from the NPD Group, the article also projects a slight increase in back-to-school sales for department stores and footwear retailers, which have seen consumers gravitate toward mass merchants over the years. Increases are anticipated for clothing, footwear, and electronic product sales.

The article is available at the NBC-5 Web site.