Summer is almost over, apparently.
Much as shoppers have barely overcome their Christmas eggnog bloat when Valentine’s Day displays pop up and have lingering Thanksgiving turkey comas when Christmas displays roll out, kids endure a special kind of dread when faced with an aisle of school supplies before they’ve even been on their summer camping trip.
The least a retailer can do is try to make those supplies cool. For its part, Staples Canada has kicked off its 2013 back-to-school shopping season with a fun and quirky collection that includes an R2-D2-themed USB drive and fun fur Monsters Inc. headphones.
On Wednesday, the retailer released its top picks from the collection, as well as a list of trends for tykes heading back to school (you know, in roughly two months). For those of you that rocked neon in the ’80s, brace yourself: it’s baaaack. Staples predicts neon will be “the hottest fashion trend of the season” on everything from pencil cases to binders and scissors.
Young technophiles can save files on a line of USB drives (pictured) decorated with characters like Batman and Einstein. Staples also has a variety of laptops and tablets—and related cases, sleeves and backpacks, including Reebok ones that come with matching lunch bags. And, for kids with a thing for organization, Staples is offering shelf kits and magnets for lockers.
If the retail seasons keep starting this early, it won’t be long before they’re stashing Halloween costumes in there.
Staples Canada’s back-to-school efforts last year involved gathering first-day-of-school stories in an online promotion. Selected stories were featured in webisodes created by the company.
