Bigger week then X-mas?
these people are f`ing nuts over a 5% discount!
if these stores offered 5% off, NO ONE WOULD SHOW UP!
Just like the employee discounts at the auto makers,when manufacturers increased prices of cars and shoppers cleared the auto lots!
Informed consumers=lol
Tax-free weekend a gift to retailers
Sales totals may top rush before Christmas
By Michael Levenson, Globe Correspondent | August 15, 2005
BRAINTREE -- They're calling it Christmas in August.
Inundated with shoppers on a sultry, summer weekend, giddy retailers said yesterday that the state's first-ever Saturday and Sunday without a sales tax could end up being the most profitable weekend of the year, beating the $500 million in sales that shops usually reap during the final weekend rush in late December.
From Braintree to Peabody, Springfield to Cambridge, malls that are normally quiet this time of year teemed with buyers snapping up iPods, language instruction tapes, refrigerators, sheets, tools, and clothing. Shoppers came from out of state to make long-delayed purchases and to hunt for a deal with no particular item in mind. Some retailers said they could hardly keep up with the foot traffic, though most said they were ecstatic with the brisk sales.
''There is no question that overall sales amounts are going to rival the weekend before Christmas and a lot of stores are going to do better than that," said Jon B. Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. ''You're getting people into the stores at a time when they don't normally shop, they don't normally spend money."
A normal weekend in the middle of August might generate about $150 million in sales, Hurst said. Last year, when the state for the first time suspended the 5 percent sales tax for a single day, a Saturday, sales jumped to about $400 million, he said.
This year, the numbers could top $500 million, once they are tallied in a few weeks. That would make it the busiest weekend of the year, Hurst said.
''They're buying pretty much anything that's on their shopping lists," said Jose Lopez, manager of Cambridge SoundWorks at the CambridgeSide Galleria. He said business was up 50 to 60 percent over a normal August weekend at his shop, driven by sales of televisions and high-end stereo systems.
''It is kind of like Christmas in August," Lopez said.
At South Shore Plaza in Braintree yesterday, stores had hung promotional banners advertising ''tax-free days." A retiree carried a bag of tools he had bought, happy to save $2.50 in taxes. Iverline White, 19, hunted for an inflatable chair for her dorm room. Her father, Paul White, 63, a shipwright from Wareham, had spent $1,600 on a washer and dryer the night before.
''The state might not be happy, but the stores sure are," Iverline White said.
At KB Toys, assistant manager Mark Peterson happily presided over a store full of toddlers and parents inspecting action figures, trucks, and dolls.
''We've got sales stuff up at the front of the store that's just kind of flying," Peterson said. ''We've got sales stuff in the middle of the store that's just going. We got a whole bunch of new Star Wars stuff, all kinds of new games, and it's just flying off the shelves."
While most rejoiced, some retailers smirked at how many consumers were lured by savings that are modest compared with the discounts most stores offer on occasion.
''I can't believe that if I offer a 5 percent or 15 percent discount on this stuff, I have a hard time selling, and that people are eating up this discount," said Gary Hillman, manager of Rosetta Stone, a kiosk that sells language tapes in the mall. He said sales of his tapes were up 75 percent.
Hillman said he thinks people want to buy because they are saving money at the expense of the government. ''It's unbelievable," he said.
Customers said they had many reasons to shop yesterday, beating the government not least among them.
Many acknowledged a certain frisson at the idea of saving 5 percent from the state -- shopping as civil disobedience.
''Getting any break from the government is a good thing," said Laura Majed, 49, a typesetter from Providence. She bought speakers for her iPod yesterday at the Apple store at the mall. She had made the trip from Rhode Island in part to reap the savings, she said.
Massachusetts is one of 11 states plus the District of Columbia that have tried to spur business by suspending their sales taxes. Some stretch their tax breaks for 10 to 14 days, or limit them to clothing and back-to-school items. In Massachusetts, the deal extends to taxable items under $2,500, excluding new and used cars.
The initiative is a political favorite and was heavily promoted by Governor Mitt Romney and state lawmakers, who held a press conference outside a Best Buy in Boston last week.
Some customers said they had been holding off on purchases in anticipation of the tax holiday.
''We figured it would be a good weekend to get it; it's like a little bonus," said Courtney Perkins, 19. She bought a black iPod as a gift for a friend, she said, with some help from her mother, Corrine.
Most of the items selling were big-ticket goods such as furniture and computers and back-to-school staples, Hurst said.
But there were a few surprises.
''We had huge crowds in jewelry stores," said Hurst of the retailers' association. ''Who buys jewelry in August?"
Maureen Murphy, 50, an insurance manager from Avon, came to the mall seeking nothing in particular. She just wanted to check out the savings, she said.
''I guess the tax-free weekend is going to pull people like me out," she said with a shrug. ''I don't even like shopping."
Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.
© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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