Date Posted: August 1, 2003

Stores hope tax holiday brings sales

Chris Moore / The Item

Tressa Fullard stocks blue jeans Thursday at Goody’s in Wesmark Plaza as the store prepares for the tax-free weekend.

By SHARYN LUCAS-PARKER
Item Senior Staff Writer

   Columbia College junior Regina Knight saw no point in waiting until today to shop for her back-to-school clothes, although this weekend’s sales tax holiday could save her a buck or two.
   “The way I look at it, I’m not buying a mass of stuff,” the 20-year-old Sumter woman said outside Belk on Thursday. “My mother and I were talking about it, and we decided that unless you are going to spend hundreds of dollars, there really is no need to wait. The sales are already on so it’s really not worth the wait.”
   And many local retailers didn’t wait for today to put up sale signs in hopes of bringing in shoppers who have been slow to fill up shopping centers this summer.
   “I haven’t seen it quite this bad in a while,” said Lou Colon, an assistant manager at Goody’s. “We can have one good day out of the week and then it will be dead again. It’s really bad.”
   This is the fourth year that South Carolina has suspended taxes for a weekend before the start of school. The 5 percent state sales tax, as well as local option sales taxes, are suspended until midnight Sunday for items such as clothes, school supplies and computers. Women’s and men’s clothing are included. The tax-exemption does not apply to jewelry and items on layaway.
   Heavily discounted merchandise was enough to lure shoppers like Knight to Belk on Thursday, the day before the sales tax holiday began.
   Summer clearance items, already reduced to half price, were discounted again by as much as an additional 40 percent, while some new and fall merchandise was on promotional sale.
   Although the sales tax holiday can entice consumers to come out, ultimately it is quality and fashionable merchandise already marked at an attractive price that prompts them to spend, a Belk store official said.
   “There’s no reason to hold off on a sale,” he said.
   Colon agrees.
   Goody’s, which carries fashions for children and adults, is carrying a wide selection of denim, which remains popular among teens and other school-age children.
   Last week’s promotional sale brought in the crowds. Colon hopes the tax-free holiday will bring them back this weekend.
   “The economy is hurting,” he said. “People are holding back. They are waiting on the bargains. It’s like an enticement. ‘What are you going to give me to come out and shop?’ Consumers are smart. They know that if you wait, the bargains will come. They don’t have to rush to buy.”
   The earlier start dates for school don’t help, Colon said.
   “A lot of people had to take their vacations earlier and some are just getting back. They aren’t in the mood to spend any more money,” he said.
   Unusually heavy rainfall and hot temperatures also can affect consumers’ mood, he said.
   “If it’s too hot or too rainy, people tend to wait,” Colon said.

   Contact Senior Staff Writer Sharyn Lucas-Parker at sharynp@theitem.com or 803-774-1250.

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