People walk on the campus of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill on June 29, 2023 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Eros Hoagland | Getty Images
Over the past few years, Alicia Browne has noticed a change in what college students haul out of cars on move-in days at the University of Alabama.
Along with pillows, comforters and laptops, more students arrive with mini fridges, headboards, Keurig coffeemakers and even air purifiers. Some hire decorators who drop off linens, custom-made curtains and other furniture or decor orders on a specific vendor delivery day that the university created.
“It [dorm spending] has grown over the last decade – but since Covid, I think it has really exploded,” said Browne, the university’s director of housing administration for about 13 years.
The back-to-college spending bump could be one of the biggest sales opportunities for retailers this fall. College students and their families are expected to shell out a record amount this year: an average of…
2023-08-10 11:54:30
Original from www.cnbc.com