By Robert Hudson

The Selma Times-Journal

With public schools opening their doors on Monday, parents are taking advantage of the annual Alabama tax-free weekend.

This is the sixth straight year during the fall in which cities and counties around the state, in compliance with Alabama law, have waived state sales and use tax on certain school supplies, computers and clothing to help shoppers get ready for the upcoming school year.

The sales-tax holiday began Friday, Aug. 5 at 12:01 a.m. and will end Sunday at midnight.

Local department stores have seen an increase in customers with the coming of the tax-free weekend.

“It’s really about three or four times more than the amount of traffic in here on an average day,” said Lisa McFee, store manager of JCPenney near the Selma Mall. “It really starts from the minute the doors open.”

McFee said the amount of people coming to JCPenney during the tax-free holiday is similar to what the store experienced last year.

“It looks like, just looking at last year’s figures, traffic is about just the same as last year around this time,” McFee said. “Mostly people are buying school clothes from top to bottom including tops, pants, backpacks and shoes. We’ve sold quite a bit of shoes.”

The tax holiday applies to clothing priced at $100 or less, school supplies valued at $50 or less, books that cost $30 or less, computers and computer equipment with a selling price of $750 or less.

According to the Alabama Retail Association, shoppers from other states can benefit by crossing over into Alabama and take advantage of the tax holiday.

The state of Mississippi hosted their tax holiday weekend last weekend and Florida will have theirs next weekend, while Tennessee will have their tax holiday at the same time as Alabama.

For more information about how you can take advantage of Alabama’s tax holiday weekend, please visit the Alabama Retail Association website at www.alabamaretail.org.