Susan Dickenson

Sending them off in style
August 30, 2007

College students will be spending about $1.6 billion more on dorm and apartment furnishings than they did at this time last year. A report released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation puts the figure at $5.43 billion, and estimates young adults will be shelling out an average of $158.61 for things like bedspreads, posters and small appliances as they prepare to head back to school. About 12.7% say they’ll be shopping for those items at home décor and home furnishings stores. And the study shows that as of today, about half have already finished their shopping, 40% are just getting started, and another 10% will wait until after school starts. Toss in the textbooks, clothing, shoes, personal accessories, electronics and school supplies, and it’s a $47.3 billion market – just to “gear up” for the start of the current academic year. The numbers, the results of the NRF's 2007 Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey*, further show students and their parents will spend a combined average of $956.93 on back-to-college merchandise, up from last year’s $880.52.  What a coincidence -- we’ve been discussing this same “up from last year” issue in my house for several weeks now as my firstborn prepares for another year at Carolina. As I write, my Sophie Pyle is in the process of moving, trading her room in an off-off-campus furnished condo with pool, for a spot in a girls’group house (we're shown in photo, right, taking a break on move-in day) on Franklin Street, smack dab in the middle of The Southern Part of Heaven.

While Sophie is one of 28.6% of students who will be living in off-campus housing, it comes as a surprise to me that the NRF says about half of college students are living at home this year. The other 20% that are spread among dorm rooms, college housing or fraternity/sorority houses will outspend the other groups for all of their back-to-college merchandise ($1,529.45), nearly double what students living at home will spend ($774.86) and substantially more than students living off-campus ($1161.98).

Freshmen, many with gift cards and cash from graduation gifts, will spend the most this year ($1,193.60) and sophomores, with an average of $748.29, are expected to spend the least.

Sophie warned me early on that college expenses were rising right alongside tuition costs. Thanks to the NRF, she now has the proof. So, when she drives home tomorrow to pick up her old bedroom shelves and a couple of “good” pillows, I guess I better have a check ready to slip in that tiny little Hobo purse she bought with some of the earnings from her summer job.

*The 2007 Back-to-College Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the Back to School season. The survey, which polled 7,710 consumers, was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch from August 1-7. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 percent.

Posted by Susan Dickenson on August 30, 2007 | Comments (0)