ILLINOIS -- Shoppers have until midnight Sunday to benefit from Illinois' Sales Tax Holiday. Last week, KHQA checked in with local businesses to see how the the holiday had affected them within the first couple of days. Sunday, we checked back with those same stores to see how much progress they've made.
"There's definitely increased traffic. Some of our employees have said it's like a mini-Christmas season. It's been really busy," said Marcy Inman, a supervisor for the Children's and Home departments at JC Penney.
"Saturday, a month ago, we had 300 to 400 people in during a day, and it was pretty slow. Yesterday was a Saturday and we had 700 people come in," said Valerie Dunn, a manager at Vanity, a clothes and apparel store at the Quincy Mall.
"Our sales have been up every day during the event. It's brought people in from out of town and I think it's been good for the community as well as retailers in the community, because any taxes they've paid have gone directly to our community," said Inman.
"It's been really difficult this summer with the economy. But with this tax free deal, we've all been able to get our numbers up a lot more," said Dunn.
A recent study reports the average American family will spend $606 on back-to-school supplies this year. That same family would save $30.30 under the Illinois Sales Tax Holiday.
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