Tax-free weekend starts off strong
The tax-free weekend started strong yesterday, with shoppers crowding malls and big-box chain stores, but retail specialists predicted that revenues may fall short of 2005, which recorded sales of $500 million over two days.
``The results last year were so outstanding, and given the fact that retail sales this year have been flat, primarily due to the high cost of gasoline, it will be a little difficult to beat last year," said Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts.
Nevertheless, shoppers hit stores early, and crowds were sustained throughout most of the day at places like IKEA in Stoughton, the region's newest retail behemoth, and
``My girlfriend dragged me here," said a weary-eyed Kyle Armstrong, 23, of Swansea, standing guard at IKEA over two flatbed shopping carts full of boxes containing bedroom furniture. ``We saved $70 in taxes, and at my age, every penny counts."
His girlfriend, Kaitlyn McSweeney, backed their truck into the loading area and cleared out the back of the vehicle while Armstrong positioned the carts. ``We've been planning to buy since Aug. 3," she said.
Inside the store, customers filled aisles. Children toyed with cabinet doors, college students plunked down on leather sofas and sipped ice coffee, and bargain-hunting parents squinted at price tags. Long lines of customers with purchases backed up at elevators leading to the loading zone.
At Sears inside South Shore Plaza in Braintree, customers with receipts in hand waited for workers to bring out freezers, stoves, and televisions.
``I was going to buy it anyway, but then I heard that Saturday was tax-free, so I waited," said John Mei, closing the back door on his blue pickup truck yesterday at the Sears loading dock. Mei said he saved $15 on his purchase. ``It wasn't much, but better than nothing."
Mei was representative of many customers yesterday, people who would have made larger purchases this summer even if there was no tax-free weekend.
``Football season is coming up, so I was planning to get a television anyway," said Gary Mathison, 54, of East Boston, who purchased a 52-inch television for himself and a 20-inch one for his son, saving about $150 in taxes. ``This weekend, the tax thing was a little incentive, but I would have bought them anyway."
Ethan Taranto-Kent, 20, a student at Fitchburg State College, carried a $1,750 Apple computer to his car. ``I've been looking for a computer for months, but I just decided to buy one now. It wasn't really about the tax-free day."
Hurst said nearly half of consumer purchases are impulse buys and the tax-free weekend provides a little push. ``One interesting thing I've seen is that in the past two years, since the state has been doing the tax-free days in August, that month has continued to show strong sales. It's almost like the holiday effect, the consumer gets into the habit."
In 2004, when the state had a single tax-free day in August, and in 2005, when it was extended to a weekend, sales tax collections for the month exceeded the same period for the previous year, he said. ``The tax-free days create consumer momentum," he said.
