Back-To-School Shoppers Seek Elusive Supplies

Folded paper lists and puzzled looks were passed among parents and children out for back-to-school shopping in San Angelo stores Saturday. Specific supplies, down to material and color, were sought on shelves stocked with seemingly everything but that one last item on the list.

“We’ve got different colored folders and protractors, just the protractors,” said Eric Martinson, a Walmart shopper who had been in the store for “quite a wile” and was searching the shelves top to bottom and in between boxes to find the items. “Those are the two hardest things to find. And 12x18 construction paper.”

Martinson was one of many plagued with the colored folder hunt: Stories of parents driving as far as Abilene or Brownwood in search of the elusive three-pronged, pocketed, yellow variety are circulating in the city.

“Actually, my wife just found four of them and I think they’re the only four left,” Martinson said with some relief. He continued his search for the protractors a few aisles over.

[[{"fid":"14538","view_mode":"default","type":"media","attributes":{"alt":"Colored folders, particularly in yellow, have proven hard to find this year in San Angelo. (LIVE! Photo/Chelsea Reinhard)","title":"Colored folders, particularly in yellow, have proven hard to find this year in San Angelo. (LIVE! Photo/Chelsea Reinhard)","height":"960","width":"1280","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]​Christoval resident Vanessa Purcell said she was having trouble finding composition books. Purcell opted for the less-stress shopping of Office Depot and said she’d been able to find everything she needed in the store save for the one item.

“We didn’t want to go to Walmart or anything like that,” she said, noting how quiet the store was. Her list wasn’t as specific, she said, since her kids are in high school.

Indeed, folders and supplies of all sizes, colors and features were available in the store, but were priced a bit higher than some of the last-minute offers other retailers were offering.

Over at HEB, an elder employee dutifully pointed out the hanging expandable files filled with lists broken down by school and district. Shopping was simpler when he was in school, he said, recalling how they just needed paper and pencils. He remembered how one student always brought a handful of “those big, fat pencils” for students to share.

“I heard a lot of people were looking for red pens yesterday, and we were one of the last stores to have them,” another HEB employee said thoughtfully while stocking the shelves.

Last year, the store ended up with a surplus of yellow spirals. The leftovers tend to be a mix of either supplies not specifically named on the schools’ lists or colors that aren’t popular among students.

“We can’t order them by color; we can only order them by an assortment of colors, and we’ve run through this every year,” Michelle Kimbrell, manager of the school supplies section explained. “When they ask for certain colors and they ask for plastic only, [there are many left over].”

Kimbrell said she’s made sure to order some of the higher-end Mead vinyl folders this year for variety and noted that they are also carrying laminated paper folders as a substitute for the plastic many teachers are requesting. Most importantly, she added, is remaining on top of the ordering as supplies dwindle and keeping the shelves stocked.

“We try to have somebody on this aisle all day long, especially this time right now because it’s crazy,” Kimbrell said. “We’re usually the last people in town that have everything. We get a rush all year, but the weekends are crazy.”

[[{"fid":"14539","view_mode":"default","type":"media","attributes":{"alt":"Orange and purple folders are in surplus at HEB. (LIVE! Photo/Chelsea Reinhard)","title":"Orange and purple folders are in surplus at HEB. (LIVE! Photo/Chelsea Reinhard)","height":"960","width":"1280","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]By Saturday noon, several boxes of solely purple and orange folders had been lined up along the bottom shelf, while plentiful boxes filled with all of the primary colors formed rows above them.

The unwanted purple and orange remains will be sold throughout the year or shared with other stores in cities like Midland, Odessa and Abilene, who may have different color demands, Kimbrell explained.

At the moment, the only item HEB doesn’t have in stock is nap mats for preschoolers and kindergartners, however that is an item the store usually carries.

Pushing a cart with her son and daughter at her side, Jessica Lynn was in search of supplies at the Walmart on Sherwood Way. The air conditioning was out in the store and some of the supplies were picked clean, but an associate was on hand to direct traffic and locate specific items.

“They start getting pickier around their age, you know, preteens, and it’s all about brand,” Lynn said, referring to the great backpack search. “She wants from Target; he wants from Academy, so we have to go several different places to get all of your supplies and backpacks and everything.”

“You have to get pretty notebooks,” her daughter chimed in.

There is no one-stop shop, Lynn agreed.