BRISTOL, Va. – In both Bristols Friday, shoppers took advantage of the sales tax-free weekend holiday on school-supply and clothing purchases.
“It’s been very steady and busy so far,” said Stacy Wright, manager at Target’s Bristol, Va., store said Friday. “I expect a big weekend overall.”
Wright said that among the items flying off Target shelves were school folders made from recycled materials, including old potato-chip bags. “They’ve really been a big hit.”
The tax holiday in both states began at 12:01 a.m. Friday and will end at 11:59 p.m. Sunday. It allows shoppers in Virginia to buy tax-free school supplies as long as the item is $20 or less, as well as clothing that costs $100 or less per item.
In Tennessee, shoppers won’t pay sales tax on any school supplies or clothing that costs $100 or less – as well as computers costing $1,500 or less.
Both states began their August tax-holiday weekends in 2006.
Virginia’s Department of Taxation has estimated that state residents will save $4 million in taxes through Sunday. In Tennessee, the state’s Department of Revenue projects $12 million to $14 million in saved taxes for shoppers.
As Wright suggested, the stream of savings-conscious shoppers was indeed steady at the Bristol, Va., Target store. Archenia Johnson strolled the shoe racks with her daughter T’Keayh, 10, and son Daylin, 6. Johnson planned to buy all of her kids’ shoes, clothes and school supplies before she left, and said the tax-free holiday would help tremendously.
“It makes a big difference,” said Johnson, of Bristol, Va. “I do all of my school shopping every year when the taxes are off.”
At the nearby Best Buy store in Bristol, Va., Courtney Smith of Blountville, Tenn., was shopping for a notebook computer. Smith was confident she would find lower prices inspired by the tax holiday.
“I’m looking for something with lots of memory and a nice price,” said Smith, 18.
She was accompanied by friend Johanan Davis of Abingdon, Va. “He’s the computer geek,” Smith said. This fall, Smith and Davis, also 18, will attend Northeast State Community College in Blountville.
At the Walmart store in Bristol, Va., it was almost elbow-to-elbow in one school supply aisle as a gaggle of shoppers shoveled Jonas Brothers notebooks ($2), packs of loose-leaf paper (75 cents each) and Princess and Hannah Montana folders (97 cents apiece) in their carts.
At the Dollar Tree store in Bristol, Tenn., shoppers made full use of the missing state and local taxes, buying loads of already-discounted pencils, pens and bottles of antibacterial hand sanitizers.
rbrown@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512
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