Busy weekend for back-to-school shopping in Billings

Billings, Montana – This week, the majority of students in Billings started their school year, so retail businesses were bustling with last-minute customers purchasing school supplies.

“We’re shopping for Cora. She’s going into sixth grade at Lewis and Clark,” said Taylor Bligh while shopping on Sunday. “So, this year we’re doing just composition notebooks, highlighters, a calculator, gym shoes, and a backpack.”

Bligh had only just begun his shopping expedition, but he expected spending more than $100.

“Probably about $150 to $200,” Bligh said.

Holly Wallace needed items for her four students, so she went shopping.

“I have four school-aged kids. They range in age from high school down to elementary school,” Wallace said.

This weekend, Wallace intended to invest “a couple hundred dollars” in purchasing necessary school materials. However, this is not the only occasion on which she gets ready for the upcoming school year.

“I shop all year and I look for clearance specials. We shop all year for clothes and if I see something that will be good for the back-to-school season, I usually grab it even if it’s not during the back-to-school shopping season,” Wallace said.

The results of a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation indicate that the back-to-school shopping season of 2023 is expected to be the most expensive ever.

“Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $890.07 on back-to-school items this year, approximately $25 more than last year’s record of $864.35 and a new high,” the NRF website said.