Sep 1, 2009

Frugality is cool in back-to-school shoppingBy Amy HsuanSeattlePI.com

Portland, OR — Ten-year-old Sara Thomas strides across the fourth floor of Macy’s department store, eyes well-trained for the clearance rack.

Forget the brand-named tank tops priced at $20-a-piece. Never mind what the mannequins are wearing.

The soon-to-be-fifth grader from Everett, Wash., has come a long way looking for bargains at the Lloyd Center mall. And she’s not interested in paying full price.

Frugality is the new cool in this back-to-school shopping season, expected to be one of the slowest in a decade. With the recession pinching pennies, parents are bingeing with coupons, buy-one-get-one-free deals and last-minute Internet sales. Retailers are advertising layaway plans and slashing prices, hoping to boost dismal earnings reports.

And while Oregon shopping centers see an uptick in sales from Washington visitors trying to save a few bucks on sales tax, the biggest sign of the recession’s impact might be gleaned from the latest back-to-school fashion trend: No splashy logos, no brand names on anything, from necklaces to notebooks.

“A lot of these teen retailers are moving away from blatant logoing,” said Jennifer Black, a retail analyst based in Lake Oswego. “To be flashy flashy isn’t that cool anymore. People want to be understated, and it’s trickling down to kids.”

With the economy taking a toll on family wages, some children are getting used to living on a budget. Even teens, who competed with unemployed adults for minimum-wage jobs this summer, are scaling back.

Sara’s father took a 33 percent paycut this year from his job with a Seattle-area development firm. Since then, the family’s stopped eating out, and for the first time, back-to-school shopping has a $300 cap.

“We didn’t have a limit before,” said Teresa Thomas, Sara’s mother. “Once the economy took a nosedive, it’s amazing how much we cut out.”

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