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Britt Beemer America's Research Group articles most recent first Furniture Buying Index Falls in May Consumers Shift Spending To What They Need, Not What They Want Furniture Buying Index Drops Two More Points; Wal Mart Expands Home Furnishings In Midst of Sluggish Furniture Sales Beemer - Many Retailers In Free Fall After Disappointing December August Retail Sales Surge; Home Furnishings, Accessories Lag behind Expert Predicts Back-to-School Spending to Grow Meagerly in 2007 Retail Shopping Takes A Holiday Early Indications Are For A Frugal First Quarter Independent Retailers Outperformed Chain Stores In December Britt Beemer Lowers Forecast of Christmas Retail Sales to 2.7% Rise Over Last Year; Lack of “Must Have” Item to Blame Want To Drive Shoppers Away? Decorate Stores Less and Don’t Say “Merry Christmas” 2006 Q4 Shoppers Study Revealing; Cyber Monday a Hoax, Biggest Retail Push Will Be After December 15th 10 Trends For Retail Christmas 2006 Survey; Parents Cite High Gas Prices As Primary Reason For Limiting Back To School Spending Families Reduce Summer Spending As Gas Prices Rise Or Was It? New Survey Casts Doubt On Rosie Black Friday Survey; Bargain Hunters Drive June Results Top 10 Retail Stores For April; Discounts Drive Traffic Survey Says Americans Extremely Optimist About The Future 37% Of Shoppers Noticed Less Christmas Decorations In Stores; Spent Less As A Result America’s Research Group; Shopping Levels Increasing But Still Expected To Be Lackluster 3.2% Over 2003 Lack Of Hot New Product Weighing Heavily On Holiday Shopping Survey Of Thanksgiving Weekend Shoppers; "We're Not Impressed"; 45% Say Discounts Not Enough Britt Beemer’s Christmas 2004 Sales Forecast; 19% Will Spend More Since Bush Was Reelected Seven Things Your Store’s Appearance Tells Your Customers Britt Beemer Cites Convenience As Key To Drawing Male Shoppers Beemer Lowers Christmas Sales Projection to 4.2% Increase This Year Compared To His Earlier 4.8% Sales Increase survey 31.0% of Americans Who Planned to Shop Thanksgiving Weekend Did Not Get Around To It Study Shows 11% Increase In Consumer Spending For Appliance, Electronics, Computers Britt Beemer Predicts 4.8% Increase In Holiday Spending survey Furniture Leads All Categories For Shopping Levels Over Labor Day Weekend survey Consumers Plan to Spend 10% More on Back to School Furniture Buying Index Up One Point Buying furniture is on consumers’ minds, but not a top priority Shopping Is Not a Big Priority for Many Americans The Incredible Shrinking Customer Base How Loyal is Your Customer? The Loyalty American Consumers Have Towards Brand Products

Of the one in five parents who plan to spend less on back-to-school, higher gas prices have jumped to 24.7% this year from 9.5% last year as the main reason for this cut back.
Britt Beemer, CEO, America’s Research Group

Nearly half of parents with school age children (48%) are trying to hold back their children’s back-to-school spending, according to a study by America’s Research Group (ARG). Of the one in five parents who definitely plan to spend less on back-to-school this season, higher gas prices have jumped to 24.7% this year from 9.5% last year as the main reason for this cut back.

"Consumers attitudes about back-to-school are further indication that American shoppers are not feeling really confident," said C. Britt Beemer, founder and CEO of ARG. "Those retailers that are first to offer the best prices will be the winners with parents," he predicts.

Wal-Mart is still the #1 store to shop for back-to-school items. One in five (20.5%) state they will go to Wal-Mart while one in four (25.1%) have not yet decided where to shop this year. The number of parents willing to buy their children’s clothing at full retail-price levels has fallen to an all-time low with only 3.2% this year down from 36.9% in 2001.

Children will have some say in the matter. According to Beemer, close to half of parents (46.4%) say they will allow their children to have more influence on back-to-school spending levels, compared with 44.4% a year ago. Over 90% of parents say that their children will accompany them when they shop.

Back-to-school spending levels will be up only modestly, in the 2% to 4% range. Beemer projects the final store sales level at around 3.2%.

The Consumer Mind Reader survey of 1,004 adults was conducted from July 3 to July 7, 2006.