Rising inflation impacting back-to-school shopping

EAST SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Families in Central New York are preparing for the new school year and getting some last-minute school shopping done as back to school season arrives.

Some are returning to the classroom as early as Tuesday, Sep. 5, while others will be returning later this week, which mean’s it’s that time of year again…back-to-school shopping!

“I’ve been to staples, I’ve been to Walmart, I’ve been to the Dollar Stores because prices have completely skyrocketed,” said Concetta, a mother shopping for her kids.

And she’s right. The National Retail Federation reports that families with children in elementary through high school plan on spending roughly $890.07 on back-to-school items this school year. That’s approximately $25.00 more compared to last year’s back-to-school spending of $864.35.

“The binders have been raised about like $3.00 from last year because my oldest we got them last year and they were only like $10.00 for a three-inch binder, and now they are like $13.00,” said Concetta.

Adding up fast, especially if you’re shopping for more than one child, like, Marisa Guzman Colegrove, a mother of four, including an exchange student.

“They are going into 8th grade. I’ve got two juniors and one senior,” said Colegrove.

Last year, Colgrove spent more than $150.00 on school supplies and expects to spend more this year.

“Probably a little bit. Hopefully not. But probably a little bit, yeah with the inflation and you know everything going up in price,” said Colgrove.

Most of the time, Colgrove goes to Staples and gets everything she’s looking for. But others haven’t been so lucky.

“I’ve been to three different stores just this morning. Usually, I’ll go to Walmart or Target and I’ll probably have to stop at Staples for maybe the calculators because Walmart will be out. But I’ve had to go to every different store for different things this morning,” said Concetta.

As for Colgrove, NewsChannel 9 caught up with her once she was done shopping at Staples to see how it went.

“It was definitely much higher than I thought it would be,” said Colgrove.

The good news, Colgrove was able to find everything she needed.

The other parents who did not want to go on camera said prices were higher this year, not just at Staples, but other stores like Target and Walmart.

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