Little Rock, Arkansas – During the tax-free weekend, Arkansans flocked to Park Plaza Mall in anticipation of the upcoming school year.
The Fuell Family was at Park Plaza shopping center on a Sunday afternoon getting ready to enroll their children in the 7th and 8th grades.
“When you spend 3 or 4 hundreds dollar in the store, you’re saving 30 to 50 dollars right there,” Melissa Fuell said.
They were one of several families that went shopping tax-free due to inflation and rising costs.
“We’ve already got her fall wardrobe knocked out and ready to go and same for him, so no worries. Clothes and school supplies are good to go,” Melissa Fuell said.
Not only are the state’s colleges preparing to start classes, but also elementary school. Despite the cost of tuition, attending college is expensive.
Johnny Toma, who just graduated from high school, is getting ready to start college in a few short weeks.
“Right now, I’m just focusing on getting my textbooks I plan on buying a lot of them tonight with the tax free weekend, and now we’re just spending the last couple weeks getting prepared for college,” Toma said.
In addition to purchasing extra apparel, Toma is also purchasing textbooks after an unfortunate event left his closet empty.
“My airline lost my luggage, it had a bunch of stuff I bought from Forever 21 and h &m here so then I came back to kind of restock on everything I lost,” Toma said.
Tax free weekend is beneficial to him in many ways, he said, noting that expenses might up.
“I came here on a budget and being able to pay for everything tax free has really helped a lot,” Toma said.
Toma and the Fuell Family feel more prepared for the upcoming school year today.
“There is no way to cut corners hardly anymore, especially when you’re trying to dress your kids nice, so this definitely makes an impact on your budget, when you’re trying to buy not only this but the school supplies we’ve bought this weekend,” Jerald Fuell said.