Walmart Canada logs one of its busiest back-to-school shopping days in its history

• Less than half of Canadians had completed back-to-school shopping leading into Labour Day weekend
  
  
• Rollback prices saved Canadians $39 million over the four weeks leading up to the first day of school

MISSISSAUGA, ON, Sept. 11, 2012 /CNW/ - For many students across Canada, the Tuesday after Labour Day was the first day of school, but according to Walmart Canada's Pulse Check Survey, only 63 per cent of Canadians had completed their back-to-school shopping.  "We saw record traffic on the Tuesday after Labour Day," said Carmelo Ragusa, senior category manager for stationery at Walmart Canada. "More and more Canadians are postponing their back-to-school shopping resulting in record back-to-school sales post Labour Day."

The most common items on last-minute shoppers' school lists were:  binders, lock and locker accessories, geometry kits, scientific calculators, colouring pencils, erasers, notebooks, lined paper and graph paper.

Heading into Labour Day weekend, Walmart's Pulse Check Survey revealed the following:

• 8 in 10 back-to-school shoppers had started shopping
• Nearly half (46%) had completed their back-to-school shopping

"We're ready for back-to-school when mom is ready to shop for back-to-school," added Ragusa. "Whether mom is choosing to shop early, wait until the weekend before school starts or even the first day of school, we are mom's one-stop shop for all her kids' back-to-school needs."

Back-to-school shopping fast facts

• Back-to-school is the second busiest shopping period of the year behind Christmas.
• Almost three-quarters of moms said low prices were the most important consideration when choosing where to do their back-to-school shopping.
• Moms identified clothes, shoes and stationery as the three most important purchases for the new school year.

About Walmart Canada

Walmart Canada operates a growing chain of 337 stores, serving more than one million Canadians each day. With nearly 90,000 associates, the company is one of Canada's largest employers. Walmart Canada's corporate culture was recently ranked among the 10 most admired corporate cultures in Canada by Waterstone Human Capital Inc. Additional company information can be found at walmartcanada.ca, facebook.com/walmartcanada and at http://www.twitter.com/@walmartcanada. Online merchandise sales are available at walmart.ca.

SOURCE: Walmart Canada

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