Think a penny can’t buy much these days? If you’re a back-to-school shopper, think again.

Major office supply retailers–Staples, Office Depot and OfficeMax–are offering some basic school supplies for a penny and have marked down other items to give consumers relief from higher gas and food prices and to try to lure shoppers over the next couple of months.

OfficeMax is cutting prices on more than 100 back-to-school supplies and said it would feature a “penny offer” each week. It is also running bundled specials that include a one-cent item with the purchase of one or more regularly priced products.

Office Depot said it has penny specials that will alternate each week. Current one-cent offerings include a 12-pack of eraser caps (Office Depot branded, of course) and an Office Depot ruler. The retailer is also providing a “Free Item of the Week” during back-to-school season.

Last week, Staples kicked off its back-to-school promotions by offering an eight-pack of No. 2 pencils for a penny. That chain is also offering 10-cent and 25-cent specials for back-to-school shoppers.

(Photo: Reuters)

Check out more woe for the office supply sector, specifically Office Depot

The retailer warned that same-store sales in North America fell nearly 10 percent during the second quarter and said operating margins would fall more than expected as business conditions worsened. The news sparked a sharp sell-off in the stock as well as those of rivals Staples and OfficeMax.

Recent months have been tough for Office Depot, which earlier this year faced a proxy challenge from a shareholder group seeking to oust Chief Executive Steve Odland from the board. With the weaker second quarter results in view, one analyst raised the possibility that management changes could be in the offing.

Also in the basket:

Pepsi Bottling profit rises

U.S. pending home sales fall

Obama proposes easing consumer bankruptcy laws

Check out consumer product powerhouses including Procter & Gamble, Kraft and Colgate, inundating Wall Street with quarterly reports on Wednesday.

The reports largely showed that the companies are finding successful ways to navigate the consumer spending slowdown and the commodity price surge that has raised their cost of doing business.

P & G, world’s largest consumer products maker, with brands ranging from Pampers diapers to Olay skin-care products, posted higher quarterly profit. It said cost controls helped offset soaring prices for oil and other commodities.

Kraft, whose brands that include Oreo cookies and Oscar Mayer lunch meat, reported a drop in quarterly profit as the largest North American food maker company was hit by soaring costs for oil and ingredients such as wheat, and spending on new products and marketing. But the results were better than analysts were expecting as price increases and new products lifted sales.

Colgate-Palmolive posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, boosted by strong sales outside the United States and higher prices that helped offset soaring commodity costs. 

And Kellogg, the world’s largest breakfast cereal maker, posted higher-than expected profits as price increases helped offset soaring commodity costs.  The maker of Frosted Flakes and Keebler cookies also raised its dividend and stood by its full-year earnings forecast, though it said it expects commodity costs to rise more than originally planned. 

Also in the basket:

Reynolds American profit disappoints, stock dips

Penney CEO cautiously optimistic on better holiday

Dean Foods 1st-quarter profit falls

OfficeMax net up on one-time gain; sales fall

(Photo: Reuters)