With school beginning in a couple of weeks, local stores are buzzing with families shopping for clothes, shoes and school supplies.

Best friends and partners in shopping Rachael Skiera and Belle Burk agree that jean skirts are very popular this year, and Skiera recently got a new one. It is one item among the 30 new outfits she has gotten for her third-grade year, and she plans to wear it the first day of school.

Burk hasn’t done all her shopping yet, but says capri pants, tank tops and jeans are on her list.

A recent study by Money Management International found that nearly half of surveyed parents plan to spend more than $200 per child on back-to-school shopping. The national Retail Federation predicts the average family will spend $527 this year, up from $443 last year.

Wendy Mangold, store manager at the Vanity, says back-to-school shoppers began coming out toward the end of July.

“A lot of people were early shoppers this year,” she said.

Still, Mangold is preparing for the clothing store’s busiest week this time of year — the days just before school starts.

She says some of this year’s key categories are campus polos and game-day hoodies.

Another big seller at department stores is babydoll style shirts worn as dresses or paired with leggings. Just like last year, university-style shirts and hoodies remain hot items.

Many can relate to comments a family shopping at Dillards made in which the daughter and parents just weren’t seeing eye-to-eye.

“You are so picky,” a mother said to her daughter with a big sigh. The mother continued to hold up dress after dress hoping to pique the interest of the young girl. The daughter repeatedly made disgusted faces as she turned to the jeans, seeking something that suited her.

Sixteen-year-old Sarah Walker hasn’t done her school shopping yet, but knows all about what is hot this year. Walker, a customer service associate at JCPenney, says brightly colored — even oddly colored— shirts are all the rage for young girls.

“For boys, it’s polos this year,” she said.

Walker, a high school junior, says ripped and pre-faded jeans are popular for boys and girls.

She laughs as she describes the conflict between adults and young people as they decide was is appropriate and what’s not.

“Parent’s want cute T-shirts, but sometimes they aren’t as popular,” she said. “Parents really try to go for all the sales, but kids don’t.”

Walker says she mostly sees mothers doing the shopping for the boys because “boys aren’t really hot on shopping.” She does, however, see a lot of mother-daughter shoppers.