Some parents still prefer to buy uniform from school-recommended suppliers despite cheaper prices offered by some retail shops. Parents said suppliers are convenient and are always stocked up.
As the back-to-school period kicked off today, many parents have been seen out and about trying to get last-minute school supplies including uniform.
Mother of grade 1 pupil, Thembi Mgcini, who had been standing in line to go into a one-stop shop supplier in the Johannesburg CBD, said she often heard mothers complain about the prices of the clothes but to her they seemed decent.
“My child is just now entering primary, so I don’t really have anything to compare the prices to but they don’t seem over the top or too much for what I got. All together I paid close to R1,000, and that was for two dresses, a jersey and socks,” said Mgcini.
Suppliers provide parents with a variety of school uniforms and are often contracted to a school. In most cases they give the convenience to parents who don’t want to hop between different shops.
“I like it better at the suppliers because it is organised and structured, they have people appointed to help us as soon as we walk in unlike chain shops where I’d have to walk around looking for different items at different isles. Here you can have one person assisting you with all your uniform needs,” said the parent who did not want to be identified.
Three suppliers in the Johannesburg CBD were selling pants for between R200 and R250. This was different compared to the chain stores like Ackerman’s which was selling the same items for R160 and Pep for R150.
The suppliers kept their prices for white shirts between R160 and R200, compared to Ackerman’s R120 and R110 for their short and long sleeves shirts.
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