All That Glitters for School Can Be Had Right Here

Back to school often means a wallop to the wallet, but what can you do when the kid needs notebooks, binders, pencils and crayons?

In town, is for many the one-stop shop for all back-to-school supplies. An array of deals start today at the store at 300 Madison Ave., according to company spokeswoman Karen Pevenstein.

Items such as pencils, erasers, and pens will be on special for a penny, said Pevenstein, and there will be notebooks for 10 cents, and backpacks at 50 percent off .

Another promotion will feature selected laptops including the Samsung Princeton model, regularly $699.99, knocked down by $150 plus a $100 prepaid Visa card with student ID, she said. Another perk is the pre-installed Microsoft software.

“We know our customers are looking for value,” said Pevenstein. “We want to be able to deliver that to them.”

Unless it’s generic, trends rule the look of school supplies, too, and this year, it seems, glitter is one trend in pencils, binders, staplers, and scissors. “Far beyond your basic notebook and binders,“ said Pevenstein, “school supplies are all kind of about personalization right now whether the child is in kindergarten or all the way up to high school or college.”

Another trend is 3-D in different designs and animals whether in print or plastic. “A lot of backpacks have the cool animals,”  she said and there are flash drives that will be a lot harder to lose behind the bed or in the wash because they’ve been manufactured in the shapes of animals like pigs, cows and mice.

On Thursday, Madison mom Beth Rutland had her three younger children in tow at Staples and was a bit overwhelmed when the tally came to $134, she said.

With one child now off to college, Rutland is an old hand at back to school shopping. First the family collects all the left over supplies. “We have a lot of used stuff,” she said. “We go through that first.”

Inevitably there are the needs and with a shopping basket full of pens and post-its, notebooks and binders, the family was off. “I think we’ll be back.” she said.

, the local bookstore in the same shopping center, offers different items for back to school. Owner Lillian Trujillo has backpacks, lunchboxes and water bottles geared toward the elementary school crowd besides notebooks, journals, pens and pencils for everyone. There are also art supplies for children and adults.

“We have boatloads of these,” she said.

This summer, supplemental workbooks were popular for the younger kids who wanted to keep up their academic skills,but what she has more of than anything are books. A whole wall is devoted to the supplemental and summer reading lists which parents and PTOs supply and she will also order any book a student or booklover needs.

For the young set left behind when older siblings cart off to school, she has a raft of games, puzzles, books, and workbooks that range from $7.99 - 19.99. For the first time student who is anxious about that first day of school, there are also books. A very popular one is “The Kissing Hand,” by Audrey Penn, a tale about a young raccoon who on his first day of school carries his mother’s kiss on his hand and squeezes his hand when he needs courage. The book is $17.99 and the accompanying stuffed animal is $14.99.

Two handy books on the same subject are $3.99: The Night Before School and The Night Before First Grade by Natasha Wing.

The Rutland family hadn’t thought about school fashion as they piled on the back to school stuff at Staples. “It’s still warm,“ said Beth. However, Jack who will be a junior this fall, said eventually he may be shopping at American Eagle for his high school gear. Laney, an MHS freshman and Leah, a fifth grader at will venture out with mom to Target, Wal-Mart and the Livingston Mall.

Layton Lassiter, MHS junior, said he hadn’t really thought about that outfit for the first day either, but the Livingston Mall was his preferred destination, maybe Sears or Macy’s, and Modell’s for athletic gear.

Layton and his brother, Carson, have plenty of athletic gear after years of playing on Madison’s gridiron, but those with a hankering for easy to wear athletic gear with the Madison logo might as well help the economy and boost sales at local .

Although there are other places to get clothes on Main Street, high school and middle school athletes live in this gear and it’s reliably available at Alfred’s.

A short sleeved Dodger yellow T-shirt retails for $14.99 while a long sleeved gray version is priced at $18. Coordinating sweatpants are still packed away but will go for between $19.99 and $49.99, said manager Stephen Phillips. Madison sweatshirts retail from $29.99 to $49.99.

There are a line of custom made T-shirts with town logos and Jets and Giants shirts that would be popular with the school set. Under Armour, Adidas and Warrior athletic shorts, a must-have for certain students, range from $18 to $34.99.