Staples and Dollar General are aiming to attract back-to-school shoppers with prices on par with 2025. The retailers this week debuted their back-to-school savings campaigns, with both touting dozens of products priced at $1 and under.
Staples has 50 items under $1, 95 items under $2 and over 750 items under $10, according to a Monday press release. The retailer is providing freebies in stores and online with qualifying purchases from Sunday through Sept. 12, and teachers receive a one-time 20% off coupon on in-store purchases.
Dollar General is pricing over 70 products for the back-to-school season at $1 or less, according to a Tuesday press release. The discount retailer is offering teachers 30% off stationery products through Sept. 7 and hosting a sweepstakes on Dollar General’s Instagram page where 20 educators will win a $250 gift card.
“The back-to-school season can put pressure on household and classroom budgets, especially when everything is needed at once,” Steve O’Brien, Dollar General’s vice president and division merchandise manager, said in a statement. “Our focus is on offering the essentials customers rely on at affordable prices, including a wide assortment of items at $1 or less, while also making shopping as easy as possible through quick in-store trips and fast, same-day delivery.”
Electronics are also highlighted in Staples’ school merchandising, with laptops priced as low as $249.99 and monitors as low as $79.99.
Back-to-school budgets for 2026 increased about 11.7% year over year to $489 per child, according to data from JLL released at the end of June. The gain is driven by middle-income families — those earning between $50,000 and $150,000 — and marks a shift from last year’s driving consumer group being those making over $150,000, per the survey of 1,022 parents in May.
“Another signal of consumer bifurcation, lower-income cohorts face outsized constraint,” BTIG Managing Director and Consumer Retail and Lifestyle Brands Analyst Janine Stichter said in emailed commentary Monday. “We see the growth in BTS budgets as a positive read for BTS-levered names like American Eagle and Abercrombie & Fitch.”
