Back to School Shopping, only a month late | And Why I Love Uniforms

This year, I realized it was a little anti-climatic with the back to school shopping.  At the end of last school year, we bought some bigger school clothes for our oldest, so we didn’t need any for the beginning of this year (thank goodness for uniforms).

However, about a month in, I realized that her dresses (her favorite thing to wear to school) were too short for my liking.  I guess I’m included in that 25% of moms that wait until the last minute to shop.  So, off to Marshall’s and T.J. Maxx we went.

Immediately, we found a dress that would be perfect.  It was Ralph Lauren, and it retailed for $40, was priced at $19.99.  Now, while that’s probably more than I would typically spend on school clothes, I know that I can trust this brand to last and not fall apart (like some of the other uniform dresses we have).  

And, on the model.

While I was originally looking for school uniform clothes, there were some really cute other finds as well.  And, better, T.J. Maxx was having a huge sale, too.  The jackets and sweaters were so cute.  It was hard not to buy everything!

It was a very pleasant experience.  And, even though they didn’t have a uniform section, we still found what we were looking for and then some!  And, of course, I found myself wandering around the home goods section as well (and might have picked up a duvet as well).

About Marshalls: Shopping off-­‐price at Marshalls allows customers to find the hottest designer fashions for up to 60 percent off department store prices. With buyers traveling 40+ weeks per year to negotiate with more than 12,000 vendors in over 60 countries. Marshalls is one of the nation’s leading off-­‐price family apparel and home fashion retailers with over 870 stores spanning 42 states and Puerto Rico. Marshalls offers a wide selection of current season, top quality, brand name fashions for the entire family as well as giftware and domestics for the home at prices 20-­‐60 percent less than department stores, specialty boutiques and catalogs.

Timing: The majority of moms (60%) do the bulk of their back-to-school shopping a few weeks in advance, but 25% wait until the last minute.

Budgeting: How do you balance what your child/children want when shopping for back-to-school items and your budget?  Prevalent themes include: compromise, spreading out purchases, budgeting, understanding wants vs. needs and durability.*

Guess what?  Right now, Mom Central is giving away 3 $100 store gift cards to T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, and super easy to enter.

*From a survey in August 2011, conducted by Mom Central Consulting and T.J. Maxx/ Marshalls with almost 1000 moms replying.

“I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of T.J.Maxx and Marshalls and received a gift card to facilitate my review and thank me for taking the time to participate.”