Sporting Goods Sales Look Up for Back-to-School Season
by Christina Lee on July 8th, 2009
This back-to-school season, most U.S. consumers plan to spend as much or more on sporting and outdoor products as they did last year, Retailing Today reports.
For such products – including footwear, apparel and equipment – about 53 percent of parents with kids age 18 plan to spend the same amount, as 28 percent anticipate spending more.
The study, conducted by SportsOneSource, found that parents with a household income under $40,000 were most likely to spend “a lot less” this year. But it also found this group to be most likely to spend “a lot more” than any other household income group, with the exception of parents making over $125,000 a year.
As observed by the National Retail Federation, consumers traditionally begin back-to-school shopping three weeks to one month before school starts. In 2007, the retail holiday raked in $18.4 billion, thanks mainly to sales of electronics, footwear and apparel.