A Confusing Back-To-School Season May Lead To Blockbuster Spending

A shopper walks past shelves of school supplies at a Target store in San Rafael, Calif. Preparing for both in-person and virtual learning has families budgeting for new school supplies and bigger purchases. A shopper walks past shelves of school supplies at a Target store in San Rafael, Calif. Preparing for both in-person and virtual learning has families budgeting for new school supplies and bigger purchases. Getting her daughter ready for the first day of sixth grade, in a normal year, Lidia Rodriguez would have by now spent a pretty penny on a lunch box, her charter-school uniform and a special backpack, perhaps embroidered with her name: "Sofia."