Retailers: Big shopping days essential to revenue plans

Local retailers on Thursday were planning for this weekend’s sales tax holiday, which kicked off at 12:01 a.m., and runs through midnight Sunday.

Retailers will deduct state, county and city sales taxes from purchases on clothes, school supplies and computer equipment.

The towns of Gantt, Red Level and Sanford will not deduct their city sales taxes.

Local retailers were looking forward to the added sales this weekend.

Goody’s manager Ashley Adcock said that they were bringing in extra employees to handle the expected crowd.

She said it’s always a good revenue weekend for the store and that they have gotten in a few extra items this week in preparation for the crowd.

Cato manager Morgan Waite said they will have double coverage all weekend.

She also said the store counts on the extra revenue from back-to-school, including the tax-free weekend.

“Usually around the end of summer, it’s pretty big for our budget sales,” she said. “It helps us bring up our numbers.”

Maurice’s first assistant Tina Whitman said the expected high volume is also pertinent for the store’s monthly plan.

They, too, increased their shift employees.

Downtown at Ward & Co., owner Mike Ward said he’ll be open today and tomorrow.

He said he has a wide variety of shirts and shoes.

“And backpacks, we sell a lot of backpacks this time of year,” he said.

At Walker’s, owner David Walker said they have school supplies, including binders, blackboards, calculators, compositions, crayons, erasers, folders, highlights, index cards, boxes, legal pads, markers, notebooks, papers, pencil sharpeners, pencils, pens, scissors, protractors, toner cartridges and more.

“We have a good selection of binders,” he said. “And a lot of people come in and tell us we’re cheaper than everyone else.”

Walker said throughout the school year, people come in and purchase school supplies.

“We are just as competitive on our prices as everyone else,” he said. “If you bought everything from us, it would be about what it would be from everywhere else.”

Pink Peppers owner Marianne DuBose said the tax-free holiday is important not just to the consumer, but for the retailer.

“It gives our customers a chance to come visit our store and see what we have to offer and what’s new,” she said. “It also gives us a boost in sales which is very helpful this time of year. As a retail business owner, I am constantly looking at ways I can save me and my customers money. Tax-free weekend is something we all look forward to.”

Pink Peppers sales items such as backpacks, lunchboxes, nap mats, locker accessories, sketch and drawing pads, T-shirts, shirts and tops, raincoats, hats, caps, dresses, shorts and leggings, scarves and shoes.