CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It wasn't long ago that North Carolina residents hoping to strike it rich through a lottery would hop in their cars and drive to Virginia or South Carolina.
With North Carolina shoppers on the verge of their final sales tax holiday, the president of the N.C. Retail Merchants Association thinks consumers looking for bargains on specific items will do the same thing those lottery players did and head across the borders with their shopping lists in 2014.
"We believe people will flock from Charlotte to the outlets in Gaffney," said Andy Ellen in an interview Thursday. "That's one worry for the retail side as well as for the state."
Consumers can get breaks on school supplies, computers, clothes and sports equipment at North Carolina stores beginning Friday. But after stores across the state lock their doors on Sunday, the tax break ends for good.
The tax-free weekend tradition will continue in South Carolina. It is also Friday through Sunday in South Carolina.
The N.C. General Assembly repealed the sales tax holiday as part of a tax overhaul approved by lawmakers in the just-completed session. The overhaul also brings to an end the Energy Star appliance program.
Florida has had a sales tax holiday since 1998, but lawmakers there skipped several years due to budget cuts sparked by the recession.
Ellen said the end of the tax holiday could encourage North Carolina shoppers to head to one of the five bordering states that still have sales tax holidays, noting that Wilmington-area shoppers might head to Myrtle Beach, S.C., or Triad residents or those in northeastern North Carolina might go north to Virginia. He also said people could save the gasoline altogether and shop online.
"It's the only weekend of the year that the retailers are on a level playing field with the Overstock.coms of the world," Ellen said, referring to the online discount shopping website.
Rob Youngblood, president of the York County Regional Chamber in South Carolina, said he's waiting for next year's tax-free holiday and the shoppers from just over the line in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County to rush in.
"My first thought was, it wasn't going to be a big impact, but I think it's going to be substantial," Youngblood said. "Our stores in the upper part of the county are going to do real well.
There usually isn't much shopper traffic from Charlotte into York County, Youngblood said, adding that residents in that South Carolina suburb tend to head to stores in North Carolina's largest city.
"The other direction is the one we've been fighting," he said. "We've encouraged our citizens to think here first. We think everybody ought to shop home first before leaving the area."
Youngblood also said the sales tax holiday will provide additional revenue once people reach his county's stores.
"The thing is, one feeds the other. We have a low gas tax as well," he said. "It won't hurt that people can come down and fill up with gas."
WSOC
