As we speak, millions of children in the U.S. and beyond have headed back to their familiar classrooms, become acquainted with their new teachers, and of course, showed off their new shoes, jeans and backpacks for their fellow classmates. The back-to-school bonanza always comes on like a freight-train starting mid-July and is gone before you can say “straight As.” It is the second-busiest shopping season (after holiday shopping) and, as many in the industry can agree, a good indication of the shopping behavior of consumers heading into the last three-four months of the year.
