By Karen Cohilas - bio | email
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – Back to school shopping is always an important money making event for retailers. For the past seven years, the state offered a sales tax holiday to spur sales to help consumers and retailers.
Now that the holiday has been eliminated, some stores are holding their own tax relief holiday, hoping to get shoppers through the doors.
It's back to school time in South Georgia, and stores are getting busy. "We've got our lists, we've got three kids that go to schools in Lee County," said Lisa Speir. She said getting school supplies for all three will add up quickly. "I probably don't even want to think about what it's going to end up costing, probably $100, $200, just to get started."
Many parents have waited to go shopping each year until this weekend, when the state traditionally held a tax free holiday, but that's now been dropped.
Office Depot Store Manager Michael Bruner said, "I think the customers were disappointed as well as us, so it wasn't very pleasant to hear, but we're trying to overcome the obstacles."
Even though the state isn't holding a tax holiday, Office Depot is. They are giving a 6% break off of almost everything to draw in customers.
Bruner said, "Every store needs as much traffic as possible in sales this time of year, especially with the way the economy is."
Last year, the tax holiday was a big boost for Office Depot. They are hoping this year's sale will bring in similar numbers. Bruner said, "We're trying to do everything we can to get sales, definitely."
And Speir thinks they'll get them. After all, the kids still have to go back to school, whether their school supplies are on sale or not.
Teachers will also get a break at office Depot through Saturday. They get 10% off of school supplies to help them get their classrooms ready for the year.
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