“Back-to-class shopping is one of the most important consumer shopping occasions of the year," says Matthew Shay, President and CEO of the National Retail Federation (NRF).  "Our research for 2023 shows American consumers are eager to jumpstart their back-to-school and college purchases early."

Based on per capita spending estimates from the NRF, Fayetteville, North Carolina area parents are expected to spend a record $55,462,593 to prepare more than 74,000 children returning to grades K-12. These expenditures will exceed 2022 back-to-school sales by 12.5%

Expenditures to equip K-12 students in the Fayetteville area will be on:

• Clothing: $20.3 million
• Shoes: $16.0 million
• Supplies: $10.4 million
• Electronics: $8.6 million

In addition to expenditures for K-12,  $125.6 million is expected to be spent in the Fayetteville area to prepare college students for their return to campus. This is 27% more than was spent last year. Another record.

The biggest spending categories to equip Fayetteville area college students in 2023 will include:

• Electronics: $31.1 million
• Dorm/Apartment Furniture: $17.5 million
• Clothing: $16.7 million
• Food Items: $13.8 million

In order to capture the largest portion of this record back-to-class cash, Fayetteville small business owners will need to fight to keep these dollars local. According to the NRF, a painful majority of shoppers plan to buy online and in department stores.  While only 13-15% of consumers plan to buy locally.

The first radio station in Fayetteville, WFNC, was granted a license from the Federal Radio Commission in 1939. The owner was Wall Christian Ewing who, at the time, also owned a wholesale fertilizer business in the city. He had also been the Chairman of the Cumberland County Democratic Party. and had spent time serving in the North Carolina legislature.

For almost 80 years, North Carolina business owners have depended on local radio stations to successfully market their goods and services through depressions, recessions, wars, and natural disasters. Even now, during a pandemic, advertising on Fayetteville radio remains a dependable way to make cash registers ring.

Here are five facts every Fayetteville small business owner needs to know about local radio in 2020.