By Glenn Demby
The general slowdown in retail is expected to affect back-to-school spending on both licensed and unlicensed goods, according to a new NRF survey:
- $24.9 billion: Expected amount of total back-to school spending
- $630.36: Average amount family with kids in grades K-12 is expected to spend for apparel, electronics and other school needs (down from $669.28 in 2014)
- $217.82: Amount the average family is expected to spend for clothes
- $117.56: Amount the average family is expected to spend for shoes
The report also suggests that families will wait longer to start their back-to-school shopping:
- 19.6%: Families planning to shop 2 months before school begins (as opposed to 22.5% in 2014)
- 42.8%: Families planning to shop 3 weeks to 1 month before school begins (as opposed to 44.5% in 2014)
- 30.3%: Families planning to shop 1 to 2 weeks before school begins (as opposed to 25.4% in 2014)
Source: National Retail Federation annual Back-to-School Survey
Licensed Lunchboxes: Part School Supply, Part Investment Asset?
By Glenn Demby
The array of licensed school supplies chasing after the back-to-school dollar includes caped Batman and Superman lunchbox from Thermos. Although the fabric insulation technology is new, the marriage of Thermos and DC Comics superheroes is a classic concept. If you buy one of these or another licensed lunchbox, you might want to hang onto it for a while. I wish I had. That old steel Batman and Robin lunchbox and thermos I had as a kid is now an antique with a mint version commanding somewhere in the neighborhood of $400 on eBay. Prices of some of the other vintage lunchboxes I grew up with (based on my highly unscientific perusal of eBay):
- Jetsons: $100
- Beatles: $1,900
- Munsters: $495
- Bonanza: $400
- Cracker Jack: $50
- Flying Nun: $50
- Flipper: $175
- Get Smart: $175
- Superman: $180
- Hogan’s Heroes: $900
- Gomer Pyle: $75
- Gentle Ben: $70
- Brady Bunch: $185
- Smokey Bear: $750
- Beverly Hillbillies: $350