Shoppers and the back to school rush!

The time has certainly flown by! Summer is behind us and the back to school rush is on everyone. Even if you are not a parent with school age children you are still affected by this time of the year.

Traffic

The increased traffic on the road during back to school is really frustrating as you will need to leave your house much earlier in order to get anywhere on time. There also seems to be increased road works which is horrible timing and will cause even more traffic.

Those who use the main roads such as Half Way Tree, Constant Spring or Cross Roads in Kingston will face increased traffic not just when school starts but in the weekend leading up to the start of the reopening of school. This is because the streets are packed with shoppers as they get last minute items for school.

Shopping

The plazas in Kingston have been filled to capacity in the last few days. As early as mid day there were no parking spots and shoppers had to park long distances from the shops.  The book stores were the worst affected, harried staff had their hands full as parents came in with numerous booklists often buying for more than one child.

A difficulty that was also clearly seen was that some textbooks were insufficient to meet the demand which resulted in tension among some shoppers. The shoe stores also had a lot of shoppers and it was difficult to find one that had enough salespersons to assist everyone. The situation was compounded by the severe crowd that seemed to be everywhere and that made it difficult for shoppers to maneuver through the aisles.

There were some positives to the rush as many stores had back to school deals that all shoppers could benefit from as they boasted up to 50% off on selected items. There was also the added plus of having the opportunity to do some shopping if you had missed anything for your back to school preparations!

How to Survive the back to school rush

If you have to shop during this time, here are some tips:

Shop early – It is best to go shopping early in the day before the crowd makes it more difficult.

Avoid walking with large purchases – This can make you a target for thieves who want to do a little ‘shopping’ of their own.

Call Ahead – Instead of driving all over town simply call the stores,  preferably early in the morning and source the materials you need. Some stores even allow you to make pre-orders and so you could just walk in pay then pick up your order and leave.

So how are you handling the back to school rush? Let me hear from you!

Teri Ann Renee Paisley

Gleaner Online Writer

Tags: school, shopping