"People were in here checking out things three weeks ahead of time," said Rick Dube, president of Dick's TV at 276 Broadway. "And we sold six new kitchens on the tax-free day itself."
Dube, 50, is hoping for the same shopper turnout again this year if Beacon Hill lawmakers approve a tax-free shopping weekend on Aug. 12 and 13 in Massachusetts as planned.
While local businesses are hopeful, consumers queried yesterday said they aren't convinced the tax-exempt shopping days really pay off for folks living in Merrimack Valley cities and towns, some of which are just a stone's throw away from always sales tax-free Salem, N.H.
"I don't think most people would wait for the tax-free shopping days," said Tom O'Sullivan, 31, of Methuen. "They'd just drive to Salem, N.H."
But Methuen resident Carol Sholick disagreed. Sholick, 49, said if she did have a large purchase to make, say a television or clothes dryer, she'd probably wait to do it on the Massachusetts tax-free shopping day.
"But it wouldn't make a difference to me if it was just an everyday purchase ... just a CVS run or something like that," Sholick said.
Last year, Royal Jewelers in Andover did four times more business on the tax-free days than on a typical summer weekend, chief operating officer Harry Goralnick said. The downtown merchant sells a lot of hard-to-find jewelry, so it usually doesn't have to worry about competition from New Hampshire, he said.
Royal Jewelers is usually closed Sundays but stays open during the sales tax holidays to maximize its sales.
"It's turned into one of our biggest holidays of the year," Goralnick said. "Instead of buying gifts for other people, people are buying gifts for themselves."
A and M Appliance in North Andover has also seen a spike in business on past sales tax holidays, despite the store's proximity to New Hampshire, manager Roberta Bromquist said.
"It does mean a lot to your faithful customers because they wait for that day, and they like to be loyal," she said.
Shoppers tend to buy stoves, refrigerators and other big-ticket items during the sales tax holiday to realize the most savings. A and M does not hold any additional sales on the holiday, because not having a sales tax is enough to draw customers in, she said.
Still, other folks said the tax-free shopping day should be a regular occurrence.
Pete Bowden, 61, a Revere resident who works in Andover, said he wishes Massachusetts would do away with the sales tax altogether, putting the state on a level playing field with New Hampshire. He doesn't think the sales tax-free weekend in Massachusetts is a bad idea but admits he never made a point to go shopping on similar days in the past.
"But I suppose if I was going to buy something, that would be the time to do it," he said.
Quotes to go with mugs:
"I hope they vote to do it every year."
- Rick Dube, 50, president of Dick's TV at 276 Broadway
"Maybe for people living in Boston or western Massachusetts, it's a great idea, but I don't think it matters much when you live up here."
- Tom O'Sullivan, 31, of Methuen
"It's just one of those things that, honestly, I don't pay much attention to. If we need something, we don't wait for a certain day, we just go out and buy it."
- Retired postal inspector Donald Howd, 67, who lives in Methuen
