Forecasters may be predicting a downturn in back-to-school spending, but Wal-Mart Stores wants its share, and the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer is taking off the pricing gloves: The chain says
parents can fully outfit each child for $50 or less.
While Wal-Mart says the average parent spends $234 on back-to-school duds, it promises enough selection in the under-$10 range that moms
can score a whole week's worth of clothes "for less than a tank of gas." And it's selling its Compaq Presario Notebook, with a 3GB memory, for $298.
The back-to-school electronics business is
one of the few categories expected to grow this year.--Sarah Mahoney