Hamilton Place Mall prepares for Tax Free Weekend

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Tennessee’s tax-free weekend started at midnight. A lot of businesses are offering deals for parents and students as they prep for back-to-school season.

The unofficial holiday weekend that everybody looks forward to is here. Tax free weekend is back and for a Friday at noon, people were constantly pulling in and out of Hamilton Place to get their shopping in.

But what makes this weekend even better, is the relationship between the stores in Hamilton Place and their customers and some stores teamed up for an amazing surprise.

“We always compare this to a warmup for Black Friday, that’s how busy our crowds get here, and it really means the world to us that our Chattanooga locals and people from surrounding states view us as the place where they want to come and shop with us. We don’t take that lightly and were just thrilled and honored to have everyone in the mall today,” said Director of Marketing at Hamilton Place, Andrew Steel.

Hamilton Place has been prepared for tax free weekend for quite some time, but they know this is just the start of shopping season as the foot traffic is going to pick up as the holidays are just around the corner.

It’s exciting for stores and employees as they want to make sure is happy with whatever they are buying during tax free weekend.

“My favorite thing about tax free weekend is getting to see all of the families come and go to our mall and there’s lots of exciting parents, children, who come and get their back-to-school outfits with us,” said Steel.

Tax free weekend relieves a lot of stress for families who are buying school supplies.

Stores like Palmetto Moon and Buckle even teamed up to offer a $1000 giveaway to those who enter in their battle of the backpacks raffle.

“Maybe their parents can afford a little bit more than what they are used to cause that no tax is basically saving ten percent right there with the tax in Tennessee. So, not having that added expense of tax allows them to maybe get a couple more things than what they were used to, so I feel like the kids are pretty pumped as well,” said Manager of Buckle, Tucker Cox.

Seeing smiling faces of kids throughout the mall that are excited about wearing their new clothes or using their new tablets in the upcoming school year is what makes employees of stores in Hamilton place love their job.

“It’s really just an honor and a pleasure to give back when we are able to and in this type of way to our shoppers because they are here supporting us, we are here to support them,” said Steel.

Tennesseans can save nearly 10% on qualifying clothing, school supplies, and computers.

Tennesseans can purchase clothing and school supplies tax-free if they are priced at $100 or less and buy computers tax-free if they are priced at $1500 or less.