Reader TTS

It’s back-to-school season already for retailers, with stores crammed with aisle after aisle of pencils, pens, notebooks, glue, and other school supplies. A _USA Today_ Money section story

last week, though, raised some doubts about conventional wisdom. “Back-to-school shopping sprees are a thing of the past,” the headline reads. While families are expected to spend an average

of $670 on back-to-school shopping, up 5 percent (based on data from the National Retail Federation), the story says “analysts and parents say the slow economic recovery, plus access to

near-constant online deals, means back-to-school shopping is no longer a big event.” The story by Kaitlyn Krasselt is an understandable effort to give a perennial story a fresh angle. But

_USA Today_‘s Money section isn’t quite on the same page with the its Gannett Co. cousin, the USA Today Premium Publications division. That is a magazine unit that publishes many one-time or

semi-regular titles such as _Guide to Kids’ Health_, _Super Bowl Preview_, and _One Direction_. (For that last one, $5.99 will get you “the scoop” on the British boy band’s invasion of “the

USA.” I’m surprised no other magazine publisher has thought of putting out such a product.) One of the latest magazines from USA Today Premium Publications is _Back to School_, a 96-page

“special K-12 issue.” The overall tone of the $5.99 magazine is not one that celebrates the idea that back-to-school shopping sprees are a thing of the past, as the newspaper’s Money story

reported. “Gear Guide: 53 Top Picks for clothes, shoes, school essentials,” the cover reads about a five-page spread that promotes, er, back-to-school shopping. Among the advertisers in the

magazine are Wal-Mart, Target, Elmer’s Glue, Thermos, Arctic Zone lunch containers, and—somewhat jarringly—Maximum Strength Zantac. The magazine’s editorial material is light but fun,

including a cover story on Mario Lopez, one of the stars of 1980s school sitcom “Saved by the Bell” and current host of the syndicated celebrity news show “Extra.” Lopez is now 40 years old

and has two young children with his wife, Courtney. The other main features are about “Artistic Play,” about youth creativity on digital devices, and “Ordinary Children, Extraordinary

Talents,” about three wunderkinds in art, writing, and entrepreneurship. The rest is made up of shorter pieces on topics such as backpack safety, how to help children deal with “rotten

classmates,” and how moms can text with their teens without being overbearing. “Keep in mind that teens don’t like to be told what to do, whether through conversation or text, so consider

omitting phrases like ‘you should,’ ‘always’ and ‘never,’” says the piece by veteran journalist—and mom—Lori Santos. The _USA Today Back to School_ magazine is meant to be displayed on

newsstands until Sept. 6. By then, retailers should be setting up their Halloween aisles.