Parents and children were out in full force on Saturday afternoon getting their last digs at back-to-school shopping before the end of the Labour Day weekend.
With the new school year starting next week, Cleve’s Source for Sports manager Debbie Melanson said the foot traffic in her store has been unbelievable lately.
“It’s hard to put a number on it, but we’ve had more than double the regular amount of shoppers in the last two weeks, for sure,” she said.
A full staff of workers hustled to and fro from the shoe section to the inventory room, getting shoes for line of kids waiting to try them on.
With a “buy one, get one for $1” deal, the shoes have been flying off the shelves.
“More than 90 per cent of our sales lately have just been shoes,” Melanson said. “No one specific brand is selling better than any other – it’s just whatever shoe is left in their size, they grab.”
Melanson said the rush in sales indicate a stronger economy than people think exists in the region.
“When you look at the business everyone is doing lately, I think it goes to show that there is money in Truro.”
A few doors over at Staples, Tara Moxsom was finishing up some school shopping with her two children, Noah and Addison.
Noah, heading to Grade 4, buzzed around the store picking things out for himself while Addison, who won’t be starting school for another year, mimicked her older brother.
“We had to come here for the backpack,” Tara said as her daughter hauled a Minnie Mouse book bag from her cart to proudly show off. “Everything we get for him, we kind of have to do the same for her.”
Spending the last weekend of summer shopping for her son’s school supplies is always an emotional experience for the young mom, who fondly remembers shopping with her father for school supplies.
“It just makes me go ‘Ahhhh,’ a little bit,” she said, waving her hands in front of her face. “He’s growing up so fast.”
Staples sales manager Mike Robar said traffic through the store has been steady the past few weeks, with shoppers getting it out of the way earlier this year.
“Our sales have been kind of flat right across the last few weeks,” he said. “Our traffic is up, though, and this is still a time of year that’s right up there with Christmas as our best six weeks of the year.”
This year, Staples’ “Me to We” program has been a big draw to the store. Partnering with Feed the Children, select back-to-school products purchased at Staples also lead to donations made to villages in Africa. The purchase of a backpack, for example, leads to textbooks for less fortunate kids. Shoppers receive a tracking code with their purchase so they can actually see where the donations were made.
“We’re really happy to be involved with a program like that,” Robar said. “It’s good for us, it’s good for the customers and it’s really good for some of those who are less fortunate than us. It’s a win-win-win.”
Colchester County students will hit the classrooms again on Thursday, Sept. 4, to start the new school year.
Parents and children were out in full force on Saturday afternoon getting their last digs at back-to-school shopping before the end of the Labour Day weekend.
With the new school year starting next week, Cleve’s Source for Sports manager Debbie Melanson said the foot traffic in her store has been unbelievable lately.
“It’s hard to put a number on it, but we’ve had more than double the regular amount of shoppers in the last two weeks, for sure,” she said.
A full staff of workers hustled to and fro from the shoe section to the inventory room, getting shoes for line of kids waiting to try them on.
With a “buy one, get one for $1” deal, the shoes have been flying off the shelves.
“More than 90 per cent of our sales lately have just been shoes,” Melanson said. “No one specific brand is selling better than any other – it’s just whatever shoe is left in their size, they grab.”
Melanson said the rush in sales indicate a stronger economy than people think exists in the region.
“When you look at the business everyone is doing lately, I think it goes to show that there is money in Truro.”
A few doors over at Staples, Tara Moxsom was finishing up some school shopping with her two children, Noah and Addison.
Noah, heading to Grade 4, buzzed around the store picking things out for himself while Addison, who won’t be starting school for another year, mimicked her older brother.
“We had to come here for the backpack,” Tara said as her daughter hauled a Minnie Mouse book bag from her cart to proudly show off. “Everything we get for him, we kind of have to do the same for her.”
Spending the last weekend of summer shopping for her son’s school supplies is always an emotional experience for the young mom, who fondly remembers shopping with her father for school supplies.
“It just makes me go ‘Ahhhh,’ a little bit,” she said, waving her hands in front of her face. “He’s growing up so fast.”
Staples sales manager Mike Robar said traffic through the store has been steady the past few weeks, with shoppers getting it out of the way earlier this year.
“Our sales have been kind of flat right across the last few weeks,” he said. “Our traffic is up, though, and this is still a time of year that’s right up there with Christmas as our best six weeks of the year.”
This year, Staples’ “Me to We” program has been a big draw to the store. Partnering with Feed the Children, select back-to-school products purchased at Staples also lead to donations made to villages in Africa. The purchase of a backpack, for example, leads to textbooks for less fortunate kids. Shoppers receive a tracking code with their purchase so they can actually see where the donations were made.
“We’re really happy to be involved with a program like that,” Robar said. “It’s good for us, it’s good for the customers and it’s really good for some of those who are less fortunate than us. It’s a win-win-win.”
Colchester County students will hit the classrooms again on Thursday, Sept. 4, to start the new school year.
