Pearland Journal - News
Stores happy with tax-free weekend turnout
By AMY BIRKHEAD
Despite the state of the economy retailers say this year’s most anticipated shopping day of the year in Texas was a success.
“Every year it’s a huge shopping event and this year is no exception,” Baybrook Mall general manager Brian Schroeder said.
Retailers said Tax Free Weekend, pushed back two weekends from previous years, resulted in increased sales despite speculation of low sales due to the state of the economy. Schroeder said retailers were more aggressive this year than previous years to ensure the high traffic resulted in revenue. The general manager said even those stores that carry items that are taxable created sales to capitalize on the high traffic in the mall.
“There are lots of sales on top of the tax free incentives. Every department and all of the specialty retailers understand how busy it gets so they create sale incentives,” Schroeder said.
“We marked down a lot of shoes that were more than $100 so that people could buy them tax free,” Foot Locker manager Jason Respess said.
Some speculated that the weekend’s success was based on shoppers trying to save as much as they could by doing most of their back to school shopping this past weekend.
“We had a lot of newer products than last year but I think people were saving for this weekend; trying to save as much as they could,” Respess said.
According to a survey conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) almost 80 percent of U.S. shoppers said they would finish their back to school shopping before the end of August with only 15 percent saying they intended to spend less. While no official numbers have been reported to Baybrook, Schroeder said shoppers definitely took advantage of the sales despite rising costs elsewhere.
“All indications are that sales were as good as or slightly better than last year. Based on observations the traffic was better than last year,” Schroeder said.
“This was the best tax free weekend we have ever had. We probably had a 20 percent increase over last year,” Respess said.
Department stores also saw increases from the back to school shopping; ICSC reported that U.S. chain stores experienced a 2.6 percent increase in July from last year.
“We had a spectacular tax free weekend. When we get to back to school and the tail end of summer we are usually running good sales but the traffic flow was significantly higher than last year,” Sears at Baybrook Mall stare manager Tim Sullivan said.
Sullivan said he has seen significantly more last minute shopping this year, which he also attributes to increasing costs elsewhere.
“It was a great weekend, beyond by expectations,” Sullivan said.
“Every year it’s a huge shopping event and this year is no exception,” Baybrook Mall general manager Brian Schroeder said.
Retailers said Tax Free Weekend, pushed back two weekends from previous years, resulted in increased sales despite speculation of low sales due to the state of the economy. Schroeder said retailers were more aggressive this year than previous years to ensure the high traffic resulted in revenue. The general manager said even those stores that carry items that are taxable created sales to capitalize on the high traffic in the mall.
“There are lots of sales on top of the tax free incentives. Every department and all of the specialty retailers understand how busy it gets so they create sale incentives,” Schroeder said.
“We marked down a lot of shoes that were more than $100 so that people could buy them tax free,” Foot Locker manager Jason Respess said.
Some speculated that the weekend’s success was based on shoppers trying to save as much as they could by doing most of their back to school shopping this past weekend.
“We had a lot of newer products than last year but I think people were saving for this weekend; trying to save as much as they could,” Respess said.
According to a survey conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) almost 80 percent of U.S. shoppers said they would finish their back to school shopping before the end of August with only 15 percent saying they intended to spend less. While no official numbers have been reported to Baybrook, Schroeder said shoppers definitely took advantage of the sales despite rising costs elsewhere.
“All indications are that sales were as good as or slightly better than last year. Based on observations the traffic was better than last year,” Schroeder said.
“This was the best tax free weekend we have ever had. We probably had a 20 percent increase over last year,” Respess said.
Department stores also saw increases from the back to school shopping; ICSC reported that U.S. chain stores experienced a 2.6 percent increase in July from last year.
“We had a spectacular tax free weekend. When we get to back to school and the tail end of summer we are usually running good sales but the traffic flow was significantly higher than last year,” Sears at Baybrook Mall stare manager Tim Sullivan said.
Sullivan said he has seen significantly more last minute shopping this year, which he also attributes to increasing costs elsewhere.
“It was a great weekend, beyond by expectations,” Sullivan said.
Copyright © 2009 - Houston Community Newspapers Online