Denim is front and center in an increasingly elongated back-to-school season.
Denim tends to be a popular back-to-school purchase, per Circana, so brands and retailers are banking on the category for sales. But the earlier push toward denim also coincides with a longer back-to-school shopping window. The National Retail Federation found that 32% of back-to-school shoppers had already begun shopping by early June this year, up from 26% in 2025. Nearly two-thirds (62%) said they had started their back-to-school shopping by early July, up from 55% in 2024.
This all comes as the school year creeps up earlier, driving parents and their kids into stores sooner. In Arizona, for instance, students were back at their desks as early as July 15. What’s more, some states, like Florida, are moving up their tax-free days from August to July to try and kickstart back-to-school spending. Retailers are also starting to celebrate Halloween in the summer — a phenomenon that means there’s “less space” for back-to-school merchandise in August, said Brad Jashinsky, director analyst at Gartner.
Right now, cash-strapped consumers are looking to lock in discounts, and back-to-school shopping is no exception. In fact, shoppers took advantage of many June promotions — including Amazon Prime Day, Walmart Deals and Target Circle Days — to “get a head start on their back-to-school [purchases],” Allison Zeller, NRF’s vice president of consumer and industry insights, said on a July 21 media call. “They’ve started [shopping for school] earlier than ever,” Zeller added.
