Is the Back-to-School season already past tense? You would think so! Some retailers have already moved Back-to-School inventory to their Sales this week, such as Old Navy and The Children’s Place.
Need I remind you that August is the best time to find deep discounts on Summer merchandise? I am big fan of buying a season ahead for my kids. It can be very worth while, so long as the items aren’t too trendy and potentially on their way out. If you find a deal in your size, go ahead and buy it now. By September, we’ll see sales for 80-90% off, but sizes will be very limited.
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Current Sales
- American Girl
- Check out August’s month specials, where you can save 15 – 20% off selected current merchandise.
- Abercrombie Kids
- Markdowns on website are 40-60% off. Remaining summer is likely to sit at these prices for a while, as Abercrombie’s sales move slowly compared to other retail sites.
- BabyGap & GapKids
- There is a fabulous selection of sale items at BabyGap right now – many that will work well as transitional Summer/Fall items on sale (for little just starting or returning to Preschool this year).
- An Email coupon is circulating from the Gap Outlet – save 15 – 20% on your entire purchase.
- Especially for Cardholders: Get 20% through August 21st. Enter “STUFFSAVE” at checkout.
- Jeans Rule for school on GapKids and Baby Gap, too. Buy one pair, get another pair 50% off.
- Save 25% on all kids Backpacks and Lunchboxes.
- Save on Back to School basics at GapKids with “2 for” deals.
- Stock up on playwear at BabyGap for Girls and Boys – includes both Playtime Favorites and Brannan’s Favorites.
- Register to win a $3,000 collection from BabyGap Home plus $1,000 GapMaternity gift card. This looks like a fun collection, and valued higher than most other concurrently running sweepstakes from BabyGap competitors.
- Crazy 8
- Back to School: $5.99 graphic tees, $7.99 polos, and $9.99 denim.
- Summer sale merchandise is dwindling on line. I expect, however, that we’ll see another markdown soon.
- Coupons are available promoting Back to School clothes. Save 20% through August 24th.
- If you aren’t getting Crazy 8 coupons in the mail, subscribe here. As a new subscriber you will receive a coupon for $10 off your first purchase of $30 or more.
- CrewCuts
- There are some great 60-75% off deals in the sale section. Hurry, the best deals are going fast.
- Enter the Set-For-School sweepstakes and win a $2,000 wardrobe that comes with the help of a personal shopper to pull it all together! Daily prizes are also being given away — each day you can play a match-making game to win (of course you have to keep coming back).
- Automatically receive a one year subscription to Cookie Magazine with any purchase over $100.
- Crewcuts receives their store markdowns each Tuesday after closing. So, Wednesdays are typically the best days to shop.
- Garnet Hill
- Man summer markdowns are still available on-line at 40 – 70% off. Have a favorite that you don’t see? Try searching on item number.
- Save on over 170 new kids Back to Schoolitems. Watch the pencil for introductory items marked at 15-20% off.
- Coupon sites, such as Retail Me Not, usually have codes for $10 off $50, $20 off $100, and $50 off $250.
- Sale of the Day: Cropped beachcombers for girls ($9.00, 70% off).
- Gymboree
- “Tons of New Markdowns” – save 40% (the sales are similarly priced as last week, when they promoted an additional 20% off sale merchandise). Don’t forget to pair these deals with a 20% of coupon for more savings!
- Back to School Sale. Newest collections marked $10, $15, & $20. These prices should be good at least through August 17.
- Coupons have arrived in the mail – take an additional 20% off one entire purchases through August 24.
- Circle of Friends sale is August 21 – 24. Take 30% off your entire purchase. Let’s see if this works with the coupons!
- Register to win a $500 Gymboree gift card – just visit gymboree.com/sweeps.
- 20% off coupons available:
- August issue of “Parenting” Magazine has a coupon that is good through September 15th. (Again..there have been many reports of people stealing coupons from the Magazine. If you want the coupon, please buy the Magazine!)
- New Plum Magazine – good through November 30th. Click here to get Plum?
- Hanna Andersson
- This week’s back-to-school deal: All Short Johns, Long Johns, and Baby Sleepers – $28. Save 18 – 30%.
- School Deals Sale on over 150 new Hannas – save 20 – 25%. These are the final days — deals are only good through August 17th. Don’t worry if you miss, however, as these will also be among the first items to get permanently marked down by early Fall.
- Have favorites from last season? They are possibly still available on the website, even if they don’t display. Just type in the catalog SKU’s to search.
- Janie and Jack
- There is a new line for Girls, “All in Bows” that caught my attention. The designs are gorgeous, but I’m not sure the “Pretty Peach” color will be popular for Fall. There may be some nice opportunities to pick up good deals in 6-8 weeks from this line that will work well for Spring 2009.
- Varying Sale items from 20 – 60% off.
- $500 Gift Card Sweepstakes. Enter to win.
- Lands End Kids
- Emails have arrived to subscribers for Free Shipping – No Minimum. 5 Days only. Emails have unique promotion codes.
- Earn 3% for your school on all purchases for a limited time! Look for your favorite school and register before you purchase!
- Save$5 on Backpacks and lunchboxes through August 27.
- Buy tee’s in three’s – 3 for $30
- Stock up and Save – Back to School “2 for ” deals, such as Kids Performance Polos 2 for $25 (short sleeve) and 2 for $30 (long sleeve).
- Save $10 on select Girls and Boys pants when you buy 2 (pair this offer with free shipping for a great deal).
- There are still plenty Summer-End savings for kids in Overstocks. Save up to 65%
- There are a few items for kids “On The Counter” today.
- Some of the best deals (e.g. 60-85% off) can be found in “Not Quite Perfect” on the website. There are a couple of swimwear items for kids out there today and some boys corduroy pants for just $9.99.
- Limited Too
- It’s “Got to Go” in Clearance. Sale prices now marked down as low as 75% off!
- It’s still Double Too Bucks distribution time! Spend $50 and get $80 in future savings. Get TWO $25 savings cards, each with a $15 off Bonus Card. This is a great time to buy – be sure to spend your initial $50 on Sale and Clearance items to optimize the deal.
- LL Bean Kids
- The Summer sale continues, with inventory dwindling. Save 30-75% off most summer items. The swimwear is selection is still good. Also, pick up some stray deals from last winter and spring and a deep discount.
- Remember to watch the Thursday Morning Markdown, there are occasionally mark downs for kids. These range from closeout specials to good deals on current merchandise.
- Mini Boden
- Retail Me Not has coupon codes for 15% off plus free shipping and free returns, good through 11/21/08. The link is currently indicating a 100% success rate – may be worth a try!
- New catalogs arriving in the mail – Get 10% and Free Shipping and Free Returns on orders over $125.
- Did you know you can earn up to $20 per month by referring new customers to Boden? For each new customer, they will credit your account $5 — up to 4 referrals per month.
- Naartjie
- End of Season Final Sale- All Summer merchandise is not $9.99 and under. Varying size selection.
- Retail Me Not has discount code listed: Use “arctic” at checkout (all lower case) for a savings of 15% off through November 11. This is a newly listed code – no success rate yet.
- Nordstrom
- There is a lot of summer inventory on-line and on sale – 33 – 50% off. Stores also still have quite large racks. You may find better deals in store.
- Old Navy
- Lots of new Back-to-School items added to the sale, at 40% off.
- Especially for Cardholders: Get 20% through August 21st. Enter “STUFFSAVE” at checkout.
- Are you signed up for Old Navy e-mail? If not, join the list to receive a $10 of $50 Thank You code.
- Pumpkin Patch
- Save an additional 15% off your total order of $60 or more now through August 17th. Use promo code “USALLAUG”.
- Click and Pick tees for just $5.99
- Denim – Buy one get one 1/2 off (in stores only)
- New fall styles are slowly arriving on-line.
- Enter the Fall Patch Star Competition for a chance to win a $1,000 Pumpkin Patch wardrobe and be seen in on-line and store advertisements.
- Try to get 20% off or $15 off $75 purchase – check for Coupon at Retail Me Not If you haven’t purchased on-line in the past, you will find a 20% off coupon for your first purchase here, too.
- Strasburg Children
- Mailer coupon is arriving for registered customers. With the coupon, you can get an additional 30% off clearance items starting August 8th. Plus, get either $5 off a $50 purchase and $10 off a $100 purchase.
- On-site clearance priced at 50%-60% off.
- Note: Clearance items are not returnable. Be very careful, especially when buying on-line.
- Talbots Kids
- Now save up to 70% on Summer’s final clearance. Look for class Talbots’ styling in your selections, at at least 50% off – such as the dresses for girls and blazers and other special occasion-wear for boys. These items are most likely to retain their value and resell the best after Talbots retires their Kids line.
- Although Talbots Kids is supposed to be closing soon, they do have a full back-to-school line currently available (though not on sale).
- The Children’s Place
- New Savings in the sale section on Back-to-School items, save about 25%.
- Pick up “Place Denim” for school – 2 for $22
- The Monster Sale is still on-line, but you have to click through the “Outlet” link. Now get lots of items for $2.99 and under.
- Click here for the August Birthday Coupon for 20% off your entire order. We’ll need a new code tomorrow! Sign up to ensure you get the birthday code during your child’s birthday month — and, for a limited time, you can get registered to win a $1,000 Martha Stewart Birthday Party for your child.
- 15-20% off and Free shipping codes are often available on-line or via mail — look for one before you buy. I never shop Children’s Place without one.
Suzanne Rielle, Co-Founder, Loobalee.com