Schools

5 Great Back to School Deals: Where to Find the Best Prices

According to Consumer Reports' "ShopSmart" issue, Walmart and Target have the best prices on school supplies among major retailers.

Written by Kristal Dixon 

Where's the best place to find deals on back-to-school supplies?
 
According to Consumer Reports' "ShopSmart" issue, Walmart and Target have the best prices on school supplies among major retailers. But each retailer is offering special sales on some items.

Here's where to find the deals:

1.) Walmart: Prices already are low at Walmart. The retailer is offering sales on most all school supplies, as compared to other department stores, which just target certain items. Here's a link to Walmart's school supplies page, divided by grade

Walmart is located at 1555 N. Rand Road in Palatine

2.) Target: The popular retailer is offering deep discounts on school clothes including $5 polos and $12 pants. Check Target's back to school page for other great deals on clothing.  Check Target's coupons before heading off to the popular department store.

Super Target is located at 679 Dundee Road in Palatine. 

3.) Big Lots: Find backpacks for $9-$12 and Paper-Mate pens and pencils for $1-$3 per pack. Big Lots is reliable for its low prices on the available inventory. Better arrive early before shelves are cleared out. Here are the sales on school supplies.

The closest Big Lots is located at 480 W. Irving Park Road in Wood Dale

4.) Staples: There's is a one-cent sale on some school supplies at Staples when customers purchase at least $5 in other items. Check the store flyers, but school glue and some folders are a penny a piece this week. Staples also lists school supplies by price.

The closest Staples is located at 761 Dundee Road in Palatine. 

5.) Sears: Always dependable, Sears is offering 50 percent off  on a lot of kids' clothing, from girls' and boys' tops to jeans and pants. There also is a 50 percent off discount on school uniforms.

The closest Sears is located at 2 Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg 

Online Shopping

You might also want to consider signing up for online discount sites like Groupon.comLivingSocial.com and NoMoreRack.com. Notifications will be delivered right to your email inbox to let you know about substantial discounts on everything from clothing and lunch bags to electronics. If there’s something on your list that’s a little too pricy in stores, you can try finding a discount on one of these sites so it doesn’t hurt your wallet as much.

TELL US in the comments section: Where have you found great back-to-school deals? 

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Jessica Lyons contributed to this article. 


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