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Thomas Mann, hardlines coach at K-Mart, is working hard this week to ensure the store is prepared for the upcoming N.C. Sales Tax-Free Holiday.

''I've been going over the schedule to make sure we will have enough help," Mann said.

North Carolina will hold a three-day sales tax-free holiday this weekend. The event, in its seventh year, is to begin Friday at 12:01 a.m. and run through Sunday at 11:59 p.m. The tax-free weekend was enacted by the N.C. General Assembly -- after a sales tax increase of 7 percent in 2001 -- to offset the expense of back-to-school shopping.

Included in the tax-free weekend are school supplies with a sales price of $100 or less, computers with a sales price of $3,500 or less, computer supplies with a sales price of $250 or less, sports and recreational equipment with a sales price of $50 or less and clothing with a sales price of $100 or less.

''We have stocked up with a lot of one-subject notebooks and colored binders" Mann said. "They usually sell out the most."

Mann said that K-Mart will have all registers open and associates helping in layaway. According to Mann, many parents put winter clothes on layaway during the tax holiday.

Governor Mike Easley announced last Friday that added instructional materials, such as textbooks, with a price limit of $300, will be tax-free. The price limit was $100 before last week.

''With all the needs the start of a new school year brings, this is a way for families to stretch their hard-earned money a bit farther and an opportunity to generate significant business for our retailers," Easley said in Friday's press release.

According to Mann, parents and teachers mostly fill the store on tax-free weekend, preparing for the upcoming school year.

''Teachers will come in and buy things they think their class can't afford," Mann said. "They will buy book bags and notebooks for students that come into class with nothing."

Many local stores are having sales to provide customers with additional savings this weekend. Goody's Family Clothing at Vernon Park Mall is "setting a sale Thursday night, to start Friday," said store manager Della Williams.

''(K-Mart will) have a special sale going on that also falls after tax-free weekend," Mann said. "In case there is something you miss before."