Now five years old, South Carolina’s sales tax holiday is old hat to area retailers.

And some shoppers.

The growing pains of the early years — customers questioning and challenging which items were tax-free and which were not — are largely resolved, said Chap Greene, assistant manager of the Target in Harbison.

Megastores and locally owned shops alike say they have learned how to prepare for the rush of shoppers, from beefing up staffing and amply stocking shelves to extending store hours.

Most anticipate an uptick in sales during the state’s annual tax-free weekend that begins Friday and ends Sunday. The 5 percent sales-tax break was created to ease the back-to-school spending burden for working families.

Retail-trend watchers say back-to-school shoppers and bargain hunters are sure to snap up clothing, school supplies, shoes and computers — all largely thought to be this year’s hottest-selling items.

“What works is the psychology of not paying taxes, even if it’s just a little bit,” president of the S.C. Merchants Association Jim Hatchell said. “People see a tag that says 20 percent off, and they think maybe that price was jacked up anyway.

“But no sales tax? That’s real. They believe that.”

Shoppers saved — and the state lost — about $2.3 million in taxes during last year’s holiday. The savings translated into about $47 million in tax-exempt goods sold in S.C. stores.

The holiday seems to have lost some of its allure among shoppers. Last year’s tax-free weekend’s sales were down 35 percent from 2000, the inaugural tax holiday, when $3.6 million was saved on $72 million in sales.

Those who buy bigger-ticket tax-exempt items, such as computers, probably will see the greatest savings.

Sales associate Shane Nguyen, who works at Best Buy on Two Notch Road, said the store was prepared for the anticipated rush on computers.

The first day of the tax-free holiday, only 10 to 15 customers at a time are allowed in the store’s computer department, he said.

Nguyen said he expected a “line halfway through the store.” The shoppers — sales papers in hand — will “hopefully have a good idea of what they want by the time it’s their turn” to enter the computer area.

“Computer prices have been dropping forever, and there’s new technology,” Nguyen said. “We’re expecting this year to be the best.”

Even those retailers who do not offer the typical back-to-school fare or even sell any tax-exempt items are likely to see a boost in sales, Hatchell said.

“A lot of the back-to-school traffic does trickle into other stores without exempt items,” Columbiana Centre spokeswoman Jen Mackie said. “You’ll have the kids shopping in Abercrombie & Fitch while mom is buying gifts at Things Remembered.”

The Harbison mall also has activities geared to teens planned for the holiday weekend, including discounts to more than 25 stores, such as Gap, Journeys and Rave.

Those retailers savvy enough to offer discounts and promoting specials will see a payoff during the weekend, Hatchell said.

Small retailers in local shopping districts, such as Five Points and Devine Street, typically have seen a boost in customers over the tax-free weekend as well.

“Nobody’s adding staff, but people are just getting stock ready for the big weekend,” said Perry Lancaster, manager of Devine Street clothing store Brittons and head of the Devine Street Association.

“It’s a boost for the end-of-season summer sales and a good start for the fall.”

But for some, the savings are not worth the weekend’s inevitable elbow-to-elbow shopping and long checkout lines.

Camden resident Ami Borowski has never taken advantage of the 5 percent sales-tax break. But she still does not want to see the holiday done away with.

The mother of a second-grader, a fourth-grader and a ninth-grader already has stocked up on supplies and clothing for back to school.

One year, unaware it was tax-free weekend, Borowski went grocery shopping and marveled at the more-crowded-than-usual store and long lines at the registers.

“It’s not worth trying to beat the crowds,” she said.

“I remember seeing a poor little salesgirl who couldn’t even stock the shelves. She was working herself to death.”

Reach Young at (803) 771-8659 or tfyoung@thestate.com.