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Back-to-school boon: Stores, shoppers eager for sales tax-free weekend
(The Decatur Daily (AL) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 31--Jeanne Wheat says she's not a planner. Nor does she consider herself much of a shopper.
But the mother of three school-age girls will combine planning and shopping this weekend. Like thousands of other Alabama parents who have a long list of back-to-school items to buy, Wheat wants to take advantage of the tax-free weekend to save money.
"Last year I didn't do it," Wheat said of shopping on the tax holiday, which begins Friday at 12:01 a.m. "I didn't want to fight the crowds. I was worried about it being too busy.
"But I absolutely will this year, with gas and food prices going up," she said. "I rearranged my schedule to make sure that I shopped this weekend."
Local stores are beginning to treat the tax-free holiday as a shopping event akin to the day after Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Many are opening earlier, staying open later and offering additional discounts to entice shoppers who wouldn't be swayed by saving 9 percent in taxes. Decatur Mall will stay open an hour later, until 10 p.m., on Friday and will add three more hours Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Some mall anchor stores will have even longer hours.
Belk will open at 8 a.m. on Saturday. On Sunday, it will stay open till 8 p.m. J.C. Penney will have normal hours Friday and Saturday but will open at 9 a.m. instead of its usual noon Sunday.
The Robin's Nest in Hartselle normally isn't open Sundays, but owner Shelby Glenn said that in anticipation of more shoppers she will open Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.
"And we're trying to get as much back-to-school merchandise as we possibly can for this weekend," she said. "I ordered more shoes because that's one thing everybody has to have."
Glenn said last year had a better turnout than 2006 because more people knew about it. She said she expects even more shoppers this year for the same reason.
Gasoline stimulus
"And with the gas prices the way they are, people are trying to save every way they can," she said.
This is the third year for Alabama's sales-tax holiday, and 17 cities and counties, including Falkville, have joined in for the first time. It has become an economic stimulus, prompting people to buy items they otherwise wouldn't, even items that aren't tax exempt.
The state's August tax collections jumped 10.4 percent in 2006 compared to the previous year, and increased 4.6 percent in August 2007 compared to August 2006.
Decatur had a 10 percent increase in August tax collections in the first year of the tax holiday. But last year tax revenue for that month dropped 3.22 percent.
The state Legislature intended the tax holiday to help families with back-to-school purchases, but anyone can take advantage of it. The tax-exemption, however, doesn't apply to every item. It's primarily for clothing, computers and typical school items, such as notebooks, crayons and book bags.
Wheat said she expects to spend at least $600, which is about what the National Retail Federation said the average Southern family will spend on back-to-school purchases. The tax holiday would save the Wheat family $54.
Leah Brown, who has a 10-year-old daughter, said she expects to spend about $500 and a lot of that will go toward a computer her family has waited to buy.
"To save $30 to $40, it's worth it," she said.
One store manager, who didn't want to be identified, said she was surprised how much shopping interest a 9 percent discount from the tax exemption would create. She noted the first year, her store offered a 20 percent discount on the final purchase the Sunday before the tax-free weekend, but it didn't draw near the number of people who came to save 9 percent.
Still, some stores say the tax-free impact hasn't caused a major change in shopping habits.
"We can tell a difference, but it's not a substantial difference," said Mack Taylor, owner of Maison Morgan, which has offered to pay the city of Hartselle's 8 percent tax all week.
Staples in Decatur won't alter its schedule this year because current economic constraints have shown a trend toward less buying, said Yalonda Jackson, general manager. Instead, her store decided to offer sales, such as 1-cent specials on school supplies, to attract shoppers the past two weeks.
Those specials have done so well, she said, Staples figures it has already pulled in its regular customers for back-to-school purchases.
One store official who is sold on the tax-free weekend is Carol Polston, general manager of Martin's Department Store in Decatur.
She added five hours to the store's schedule this weekend and will have extra incentives such as 15 percent off coupons and bonuses for the first 50 customers Saturday -- a $10 off coupon on any item valued at $10.99 or more and a 30 percent off shoes coupon. Polston also ordered an extra truck of merchandise in anticipation of more customers.
She said one of the reasons the tax-free weekend does so well is that it gets media attention, and it applies to all stores that sell school-related items.
"It is phenomenal how many people this brings out," Polston said. "I can tell you just from looking at the customers, it will be more than double a regular Saturday."
What you can get
Friday through Sunday, shoppers won't have to pay state sales taxes or local sales taxes in most major towns and cities and all local counties.
Although the tax holiday is aimed at back-to-school shoppers, it is open to everyone. The tax exemptions apply to:
--Clothing, priced at $100 or less (per item).
--School supplies, valued at $50 or less (per item).
--Books, costing $30 or less and textbooks, costing $50 or less.
--Computers and computer software/ equipment, selling for $750 or less (games excluded).
For a complete list of exempt and non-exempt items visit www.ador.state.al.us and click on the Sales Tax Holiday menu bar.
PAUL HUGGINS
To see more of The Decatur Daily, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.decaturdaily.com
Copyright (c) 2008, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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