NEW YORK — The outlook for the back-to-school shopping season looked grim today, as retailers’ July sales reports showed an increasing shift toward buying necessities like food and household supplies at discounters and away from discretionary splurges on clothing. With the benefits of the government stimulus checks fading, the big worry is how much shoppers — squeezed by high gas and food prices — will retrench in the critical months ahead. As the nation’s retailers reported monthly sales, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. posted solid gains. for the full story visit www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-retail8-2008aug08,0,842663.story
