Big And Loose Fashionably Large Clothes Popular As Kids Flock To Stores For Back-To-School Shopping
It didn’t matter that Cason Parsons was already sporting $85 high-top Nike Air basketball shoes to go along with sagging jeans and a Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers T-shirt.
Parsons, an eighth-grader from Garfield, Wash., wanted more.
At NorthTown mall on Tuesday, Parsons reached into a bag and pulled out a $50 pair of JNCO brand jeans that were two sizes too big for his 5-foot-6 frame.
“He’s grown four inches since last year,” said Janelle Parsons, Cason’s mother. “Maybe if he does it again, he can fit into those pants.”
The Garfield-Palouse middle school student and his older brother, Jason, a sophomore at Gar-Pal high school, led their mother around the mall in search of the coolest back-to-school apparel they could find.
In a back-to-school trip to the mall with mom just 20 years ago, junior likely would have netted four pairs of Tuffskins jeans and Converse sneakers for roughly $25.
Meanwhile, sis would have used the rest of the dough to get a pair of Sasoon designer jeans and jelly shoes.
Needless to say, those days are long gone.
“You can spend $100 and not have much to show for it,” Janelle Cason said.
And, to some adults, the kids’ choices in clothes is less than flattering.
“Now all they (kids) want to do is wear all the dumb gang-banger stuff,” said Loren Berry, store manager at Pro Image sports shop.
Berry watched Parsons peruse the same goods most of today’s young folks are wearing.
College jackets are the hottest item on the market, Berry said.
Though the University of North Carolina and Georgetown University are both more than 3,000 miles away from the region, kids in the Inland Northwest snatch those jackets before grabbing Washington State and University of Washington garb, Berry said.
“They’re not even this big,” said Berry, showing how some kids can’t see over the countertop, “and they’re walking out of here with the extra-large jackets.”
The jackets cost from $90 to $200.
When it comes to back-to-school buying these days, bigger is hip and costly.
On the South Hill, more reasonable prices can be found at Shopko, which is also experiencing a high volume of customers shopping for school.
“We’re always ready for this time of year,” said Shopko supervisor Mary Jane Parks. “School supplies and clothes are hot-ticket items now.”
Reebok and Adidas apparel seem to be favorites among Shopko customers, Parks said. “And socks. Got lots of moms buying socks.”
At Pro Image, sales in the past two weeks are 50 percent higher than normal, according to Berry.
“It’s a lot busier now than it was this time last year,” Berry said. “Usually I don’t listen to those reports that say the economy is this or that, but right now, if our sales are any kind of indicator, the economy is good.”
Janelle Parsons said there is no way she can cover all the expensive tastes of Jason and Cason.
“I paid for $35 of his shoes,” Janelle said as her boys tried on a variety of professional and college team sports caps.
“Most of it they have to pay for,” she said.
Fortunately for her, the two boys earn their wages on the Parsons farm, which is currently being harvested.
Meanwhile, over at Lady Foot Locker, manager Lisa Brittain took some time to catch her breath.
“The last couple of weeks have been really busy,” Brittain said. “It’s mainly back-to-school shoppers.”
Like the boys, the girls are grabbing up Nike and Fila products. Cross-trainers and casual sneakers are the norm, Brittain said.
“You ought to see these little girls,” Brittain said. “They’re in here buying these extra large clothes.
“Some of them are so cute. But some of their folks don’t like it.
“It prompts lots of discussions between moms and daughters.”
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