East Texas Business

By GREG JUNEK
Business Editor

Next weekend, shoppers in Tyler and across Texas will hit the road for savings on many clothes and back-to-school items in what has become an event that rivals, and perhaps surpasses, Black Friday.

The state's annual sales tax holiday will run from Friday through Aug. 17.

The law exempts most clothing and footwear priced under $100 from sales and use taxes, which could save shoppers about $8 on every $100 they spend, the Texas Comptroller's Office says. In Tyler, the total sales tax on a dollar of taxable items is 8.25 percent.

Harley Hooper of Harley's in Tyler said the sales tax holiday generates more business for his store than any other time of the year.

"It will be big," Hooper said, emphasizing every word.

But how much of the savings are real and imagined?

Hooper said stores can advertise sales - which he plans to do for the event - but people tend to take it differently when a government says it will cut taxes on items.

"When the state steps in and gives them a discount on something that they pay sales tax for on a daily basis, it's a big deal," he said. "I think its more of an impact on them emotionally that financially."

For example, Hooper said if his store advertised a 10-percent-off sale, it would probably attract 20 more people per 100 customers. But he expects that additional customer number to jump to 80 per 100 during the tax-free holiday weekend.

A different economic climate this year might also act as an incentive for some Texans to get to their retailers for back-to-school shopping during the sales tax holiday. According to the comptroller's list, clothing is generally tax exempt. Many special items, such as helmets and cleats, for example, are not.

"Tax free weekend is the biggest weekend," Hooper said. "We don't have a lot of back-to-school, but we have a lot of back-to-college. It's much bigger for us."

Hooper also noted that the event is not store-specific. It is a statewide discount on many apparel items that people wear every day. In Tyler, shoppers will save at least 8.25 percent on these taxable items. Therefore, they will shop around to check out other sales that retailers are running in addition to the sales tax exemption.