School supplies on Saturday, July 30, 2016, at Target. (Miranda Pederson/photo@bgdailynews.com)

Titi Lin had two back-to-school lists at his disposal on Saturday morning – one in his hand and one on the phone in his pocket – as he looked over items in the brightly-colored back-to-school section at Target in Bowling Green.

Lin was purchasing items for 12-year-old Kamryn and 5-year-old Ashton, who both busied themselves looking at the selections.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that $8.8 billion will be spent this month at family clothing stores alone as parents participate in the annual back-to-school shopping ritual. Just under $2 billion will be spent at bookstores.

There are 28,138 family clothing stores across America, including 7,898 department stores, the census bureau noted.

The Lins stood in the middle of one of them Saturday.

Lin said Kamryn is headed to Drakes Creek Middle School while Ashton will attend Cumberland Trace Elementary, hence the two school lists.

Lin said he had the two lists but was lacking a pen to check off the items on his printed list for Drakes Creek Middle School.

“We’ve got to go, one at a time, down the list,” he said.

Lin was out early with the two boys, hoping to avoid what he called “the madness” of back-to-school shoppers.

He had already been to Meijer and with some purchases of backpacks and shoes at Target and other stores, Lin said he hoped to finish shopping within the next hour or two.

Students are heading to area schools this month. Logan County High School already opened its doors July 27. 

Edmonson and Hart county schools open Wednesday while Allen County and Russellville Independent schools open Thursday.

Next week, Butler County schools open Aug. 9. Bowling Green Independent, Warren County Public Schools and Simpson County schools open Aug. 10. Barren County Schools open Aug. 11 and Glasgow Independent Schools open Aug. 16.

Joyce Hardin of Brownsville was at Target checking out clothing selections with her 22-year-old daughter Miranda and 8-year-old Halle.

Joyce Hardin said she was looking at shirts, pants and school supplies. The last comment caught Halle’s attention.

“School supplies – we’ve got school supplies already,” Halle insisted.

“Her mother already picked up some,” Joyce Hardin said, laughing.

She estimated it would take two to three trips to various stores to purchase everything needed.

“We’ll probably go to Wal-Mart. They have good prices on back-to-school supplies,” Joyce Hardin said. “But I love the clothes at Target.”

Also shopping at Target were soon-to-be Western Kentucky University freshmen roommates Shelby Blythe of Auburn and Abbey Arnold of Lewisburg. The 18-year-olds graduated in the spring from Logan County High School and will now move mid-month into their dormitory, Bemis Lawrence Hall. Classes at Western begin Aug. 22.

The two young women had already made some critical purchases as a host of clothes hangers filled the bottom of their shopping cart.

“We’ve got hangers because we love clothes,” Blythe said. Next to the hangers were shower caddies and a study light. The light and the hangers were both a soft shade of teal.

“We’re looking for storage bins next,” Arnold said.

Arnold said moving from home to college was an exercise in downsizing her living space. They agreed setting up the dorm room at WKU would be an adventure.

“We have to take what we really need from home,” she said, noting storage space would be at a premium.

Back-to-school encompasses a large population each year in America.

Across the United States, 77.2 million children and adults enrolled in school in October 2014, ranging in grades from nursery school to high school, the census bureau noted, adding that comprises 25.6 percent of the entire population of the U.S. age 3 and older.

— Follow business reporter Charles A. Mason on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.