Parents and teachers
get a head start on one of the biggest spending events of the year: Florida’s annual tax-free back-to-school shopping weekend.
Colored folders, erasers and pencils quickly disappeared from shelves Friday as parents and teachers got a quick start to the annual tax-free back-toschool shopping weekend.
The three-day tax-free weekend is one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year, retailers said. Many stores pair sales tax savings with discounts of 50 percent or more on backto-school supplies, children’s apparel as well as clothes for adults and babies.
The sales-tax holiday runs through Sunday, but many parents wanted to get their shopping done Friday as they anticipate bigger crowds during the weekend. Sales tax of 6 to 8 percent is waived for dozens of types of items including clothing and shoes less than $60, school supplies under $15 and computers less than $750.
Some Florida schools start as early as Aug. 10.
“I’ve got a lot of shopping left to do, but we want to get everything done by sundown,” said Shirley Williams, a cosmetologist who lives in Lake Nona but traveled to the J.C. Penney store at Orlando Fashion Square with her 16-year-old son, daughter and grandchildren. “My son is kind of particular, needing the right length pants and shirts that fit a certain way.”
Florida is one of 16 states to give shoppers a reprieve from state and local sales taxes for back-to-school purchases. It’s one of the most generous, said Lindsay Sakraida, director of marketing for discount-tracking website DealNews.com. Many states don’t give discounts on computers and computer equipment, she said.
“The biggest discounts are probably going to be on clothes and school supplies,” she said. “And if you are out shopping for something that isn’t on sale already, you should probably just wait because saving the sales tax might not be as much as a sale later on.”
Stores such as Old Navy, Macy’s, Wal-Mart and J.C. Penney were busy, but not packed Friday morning and afternoon. Store managers expected a lot more customers heading into Saturday and Sunday when more people aren’t working.
Oviedo Mall’s Sears manager Eileen Leuthner said the store was bustling, mostly with moms picking out backpacks, school uniforms and children’s shoes.
“Saturday is going to be the busiest day and Sunday will have more traffic as well,” she said.
The tax-free weekend does apply to online retailers that collect sales tax in the state Florida, such as items from many sellers on Amazon and online arms of Wal-Mart and Target.
Parents brought school lists and emails with children’s sizes to local stores looking for deals.
“I actually took Friday off so I could get all my shopping done,” said St. Cloud mom Keila Flores, who left her two sons at home to buy school supplies. “I’ve found just about everything I need, except Dixon-Ticonderoga pencils. I asked about those and they are gone.”
Flores, who works for the Florida Department of Health, said a request from her local teachers had created a rush for the No. 2 yellow pencils from the Lake Mary art supply company.
“I guess I’ll have to look somewhere else,” she said. “Or maybe we’ll just settle for something else.”
Florida is one of 16 states to give shoppers a reprieve from state and local sales taxes for back-to-school purchases, and is one of the most generous, industry insiders say.