Whether you're shopping for a wedding gown or a pantsuit, you might want to put that purchase on hold until Friday.

South Carolina's fifth annual sales-tax holiday begins one minute past the stroke of midnight Thursday, and shoppers can start saving on sales tax from the wee hours Friday through midnight Sunday.

"I think as far as sales are concerned, we're looking at what we've had the last couple of years," said Jim Hatchell, president of the S.C. Merchants Association.

Taxpayers saved the most in 2000 during the first tax-free holiday and the state lost $3.6 million in taxes. Since then, taxpayer savings have decreased and leveled off ($2.3 million last year), but Hatchell said that does not mean the shopping has slackened.

As people shop for tax-exempt items, they also buy other things, so although the state will lose sales tax, it gains sales.

"The state's making money, they're not losing any money on this thing," Hatchell said. "There's an increase in business; we hire a lot of people; a lot of people staff like they do at Christmas. All that is good for state revenues."

Designed to help families save on back-to-school purchases, the annual tax-free weekend has become a promotional vehicle for retailers across the state, even if they sell items that are not on the tax-exempt list.

"Retailers are promotional beasts," Hatchell said. "If it's John Smith's birthday, we're going to have a sale. The psychology of this thing gets people out, and that's one thing retailers look for ... traffic."

Nevermind that nearby North Carolina also is offering a holiday from sales tax this weekend, as is Georgia. Hatchell said South Carolina has a better deal.

For example, North Carolina caps the amount of tax-free sales on particular items. On clothing, the cap is $100 per item; but in South Carolina, you can purchase a $500 suit tax-free.

"They've got a cap on the amount of purchase, and the list of things that are exempt is not as long," Hatchell said.

Hatchell said the most popular items purchased during the tax-free holiday are clothing, shoes and computers. But shopping this weekend could get tricky if one is purchasing both taxed and tax-exempt items.

Roller skates can be purchased tax-free, but not golf clubs. You'll save tax on diapers, but not crib blankets. On a wedding dress, you could save a bundle on tax, but you'll still have to pay tax on a diamond ring.

Even so, jewelers are among the retailers expected to run promotions and sales to capture this weekend's crowds. Hatchell said jewelry sales were up 35 percent during the state's first sales tax holiday in 2000.

Sherri Davenport, marketing director for the two Grand Strand's Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, said all of the outlet stores will try to capture shoppers this weekend with sales, in addition to those that offer tax-free items.

"We're having a sidewalk sale this year at both centers, which we didn't have last year," Davenport said. "The stores that don't have anything on the tax-free list, they'll offer special sales to match the discounts so they can compete with the other stores."

Area retailers say the August sales-tax holiday has become their second-busiest weekend of the year after Thanksgiving.

"It's exceptional. It's one of the larger weekends, excluding holidays," said David Stoner, manager of J.C. Penney in Colonial Mall. "We're expecting a pretty big crowd. Most of my store is tax-exempt."

Stoner said the store is adding staff this weekend, pulling employees out of the stockroom and onto the floors.

Devin White, a manager at Target, expects about the same volume of business in the store as last year.

"We're really bumping up our sales floor staffing and our cashiers, also, to hopefully be able to handle the increase in traffic and sales smoothly," White said. "We've had a good start already with back-to-school. We're optimistic we'll have another great one."

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