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Consumers shop sparingly, late for BTS
New worries about the economy are affecting back-to-school shopping this fall. A recent National Retail Federation survey revealed that when shopping for back-to-school 2011, 44% of respondents said they were spending less overall, 37% were using coupons more often and half were shopping for sales more frequently.
Retailers promoted heavily as consumers shopped late. Slightly more consumers said they would be shopping drug stores this year (21.1% versus 19.5% last year).
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Cooking up sales growth
Americans spend three to four hours a day in the kitchen, so housewares — particularly kitchenware — can be a key gift category for drug stores. The channel had a 4.2% share of the housewares business, according to the International Housewares Association’s “2010 State of the Industry Report.” Much of the channel’s sales come from cookware, bakeware and kitchen tools.