Its back to school shopping time! We have researched to make it easier for you to find the best deals in Wichita, KS, for school supplies. We went off of USD 259 supply list, but most of the other districts are similar. Even if you don’t have school-age kids, use these sales to stock up on office supplies for around the house. You won’t find better prices all year.
For comparison, when you’re shopping the sales, use our School Supply Price List as a reference. It lists prices we expect to see, as well as prices we hope to see when there’s a really good sale or coupon.
We recently updated our Tips for Saving on School Supplies. The tips are an accumulation of things we have learned by experience.
Navigating the labyrinth of back-to-school sales can be a daunting task. Fret not, as our expertly curated sales guide is here to light your way through the aisles of bargains and must-haves, ensuring you kickstart the academic year with all the essentials and more. Below are the top-visited stores for back-to-school shopping along with their most-impressive sales. We will be updating this list as this sale season continues so be sure to check back!
Current Sales 2023 Wichita:
Town East Mall
- Forever 21: Deals starting at $5
- Aeropostale: Jeans & Cargos. Buy 1 Get 1 Free
- Claire’s: Buy 3 Get 3 Free
- Hollister: Up to 50% off Select Styles
- JCPenney: Up to 50% off School Clothes
- Old Navy: Up To 75% off Clearance
- Vans: Up to 50% off sale items
- Kids Footlocker: Up to 30% off
- Tilly’s: p to 50% off clothes, shoes and accessories
Uptown Cheapskate
- Aug 3-5th – 15% off the entire store
- This is a great store to find gently used clothing.
Walmart
This is a one stop shop and typically one of the cheapest big box stores. Make sure to look for the Pen+ Gear brand it is WAY cheaper than the name brands.
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- Crayola colored pencils $0.97 (best deal)
- Girls no-show socks 20 pack: $8.98 (best deal)
- Elmer’s 2pk Washable School Glue Sticks: $0.50
- 24 pack Crayola crayons: $0.50
- 24 pack #2 pencils: $3.97 (best deal)
- 10 pack Crayola washable markers: $2.47
- #2 Mechanical Pencils 24 count: $3.97 (best deal)
- 4 pack highlighters: $2.47 (best deal)
- 2 Pocket Plastic Folder: $0.15 (best deal)
- Texas Scientific Calculator: $16 (best deal)
- Compass and protractor: $1.97 (best deal)
- Kid scissors: $0.74 (best deal)
- Wide-ruled 1 subject notebook: $0.35 (best deal)
- Backpacks starting at $6 (best deal)
- Lunch Boxes starting at $5
Target
We like Target for deals on essential kids’ clothes, because they usually have some t-shirts for $5 and jeans for $10 at least once during the school-shopping season.
- Uniform pieces start at $6
- Lunch Boxes start at $5
- Backpacks start at $8
- 30% off kid’s shoes
- 24 pack Crayola crayons: $0.50
- Crayola 12ct Kids Colored Pencils: $1.00
- Crayola Markers 10 pack: $1.00 (best deal)
- Elmer’s 2pk Washable School Glue Sticks: $0.50
- 2 Pocket Plastic Folder: $0.50
- Target UP & Up brand 4oz Washable School Glue: $0.50
- Sharpie 4pk Highlighters: $2.50
- Paper Mate 20pk Ballpoint Pens: $2.00
- BIC #2 Mechanical Pencils: $1.90
- Hanes Girls 20pk No Show Socks: $10.00
- Hanes Boys’ 20pk No Show Socks: $10.00
Dillons
Dillon’s is a local brand of Kroger grocery store. Dillons’ has been very competitive on school supplies in recent years. Generally, Dillon’s has switched to “season-long prices” rather than weekly school supply sales.
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- Crayola 12ct Kids Colored Pencils: $1.00
- Crayola Markers 10 pack: $1.00 (best deal)
- Elmer’s 2pk Washable School Glue Sticks: $1.00
- Paper Mate 20pk Ballpoint Pens: $1.00 (best deal)
- Kids scissors: $1.00
- The office works brand 2-pack gluesticks: $0.29 (best deal)
- 24 pack Crayola crayons: $0.50
- All lunchbox icepacks on sale
- All travel waterbottles on sale
- 24 pack #2 pencils: $4.00 $3.99
- Backpacks starting at $10.50
- Wide-ruled 1 subject notebook: $0.69
- 2 pocket plastic folder: $0.39
- 3 large erasers: $1.29 (best deal)
- Elmers glue: $0.59 (best deal)
- 2-pack shapries: $1.49 (best deal)
Other Dillions Tips:
- Check out the Dillions app for more deals.
- Shopping for school supplies at Dillon’s comes with the extra perk of getting fuel point when you use you Pluse Card.
- This time of year, grocery stores have sales on lunch meat and other school lunch items. Stock up and freeze lunch meat, cheese sticks, and more to have inexpensive lunches for the next few months!
Amazon
An obvious benefit of shopping for school supplies at Amazon is free 2-day shipping right to your door (if you have Prime). But you can also find some deals at Amazon. (The deals change frequently, so keep checking back.)
Amazon prices are subject to change at any time.
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- Amazon Basics Permanent Markers 24-Pack: $7.20 (best deal)
- Amazon Basics Index Cards, 1000 count: $6.24 (best deal)
- 10 pack bic ballpoint pens: $1.29
- First/Last day of school picture sign: $7.99-$10.99 (Fun idea!)
- Puma Sling Backpack: $17.00 (50% off!)
- Puma kids backpacks: $15-$17 ( 25-50% Off!)
- Minimoo Kids water bottles: $12.79 (20% off)
- 25 Pairs Kids’ Low Cut Socks :$15.00
Five Below
This is a newer store to Wichita. They didn’t have the best deals on supplies but had a great selection of backpacks for only $5. The quality was good and they were very on-trend. They also had tons of electronic accessories, organizing supplies, dorm room deals, and nice water bottles, all for great prices. If you have not been to the store it’s worth checking out. I would recommend this store for your larger items like backpacks and electronics accessories.
Sams Club or Costco for Bulk
If you have a membership, you can get a few good school supply deals there this week. But you will want to pay attention to unit price; not every bulk buy is a better bargain.
Walgreens
It won’t surprise regular readers here that Walgreens is one of the best places to get school supplies at a discount – but only when there is a sale. Each week they have something on sale for a crazy low price, and occasionally you may be able to match a coupon with the sale to get a super deal.
Like Dillons, Walgreens has coupons you can load to your card.
For most/all of these deals, you will need to get a Walgreens card; it’s free, and you’ll earn points on purchases so it’s worth using it. These are Wexford brand unless otherwise noted.