BY BRIAN WHITT/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
bmwhitt@mail.roanoke.edu

FRANKLIN—Sanda Munford was pleased to save a little money during her Friday shopping trip to Belk in Franklin.

That’s because Munford took advantage of Virginia’s annual three-day tax holiday, which continues on Saturday and Sunday.

“The savings during this tax holiday really helps our family out,” Munford said.

Exempt from the 5 percent sales tax are clothing, school supplies, printers, printer ink, compact disks and electronic personal planners.

Virginia is among 16 states participating in the holiday.

Back-to-school is the second busiest time of year behind Christmas, according to the National Retail Federation. The average family will spend $688 on school supplies annually.

A grandmother of nine from Tennessee, Munford expects that her family will spend $200 on each child for back-to-school clothes. On Friday, she was shopping with her fifth-grade granddaughter, Brook.

Mary Apaliski, operating team manager at Belk, said the store plans for these events.

“We’ve increased store hours for the weekend, and we are also running additional sales during the holiday,” Apaliski said. “We see a lot more customers, especially on Saturday. They average about $150 when they shop.”

Belk is offering 55 percent off children’s clothes this weekend.

Tracy Flythe of Murfreesboro, N.C., was at Belk looking for clothes for her son, who is a rising eighth-grader.