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Marketers Woo Thrifty with Free School Supplies

Marketers are offering free school supplies in the hopes of reaching consumers at a time when spending on non-essentials is slipping.

OfficeMax, for example, is giving away $1 million in school supplies, while All By Students is handing out $20 million worth of free, co-branded notebooks at college campuses, writes Brandweek.

Some 71 percent of consumers said they planned to spend less than last year on back-to-school purchases this year, with 88 percent planning to shop at discount/value department stores. Almost half (48 percent) planned to reduce their household spending by more than $100, and nearly all (90 percent) said they planned to change their back-to-school shopping behavior this year because of economic concerns.