SAN ANGELO, Texas — Tax-free weekend for shoppers would be something marked on the calendar for parents to prepare for back-to-school shopping. Now, many entities in San Angelo have it marked down on their calendars, because this a chance for the local economy to rebound.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many stores were forced to shut down, and according to San Angelo Chamber of Commerce President Walt Koenig, there has been tremendous drops in local retail.
His hopes is the community will take advantage of the weekend, and shop to help stimulate the economy.
"Obviously, you know, every discount we can get out there helps," Koenig said. "Taking a break from the tax situation, I think we'll have a very net positive effect in terms of our local businesses."
Downtown San Angelo Inc. Executive Director Del Velasquez is another who wants to see business boom, and wants to see the streets of downtown packed. Velasquez knows how much local businesses means to San Angelo, and wants to see the economy prospers as much as possible.
"Shopping local is something that we as an organization want on a daily basis," Velasquez said. "We want to see our businesses flourish, and, of course, it creates employment and it does stimulate our economy."
One of those businesses Velasquez is talking about is Eggemeyer's General Store.
Store manager Amy Schultz said they were doing fine during the pandemic, but when the mask mandate happened they were starting to see fewer people. She was not able to provide how much the store lost in revenue, but she is looking forward to what tax-free weekend brings.
"We're really excited, we're really hoping that it does create some business downtown because it has been slow," Schultz said.
To ensure everyone is safe during the weekend, Schultz will continue to adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.