NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — While retail sales numbers are not yet in the first weekend of August, some shoppers who took advantage of the Commonwealth’s sales tax holiday expect retailers to be happy.

“Very busy, lines out the door been very busy,” said Shanasia Brown of Greenville, North Carolina, who shopped with her mom and family at the Norfolk Premium Outlets Saturday and Sunday.

The annual, three-day holiday ran from Friday, Aug. 2 through Sunday, Aug. 4 this year.

Qualifying school supplies, clothes and hurricane preparedness items had sales tax waived when the product cost was under a certain amount.

“We shopped yesterday now we are coming back for round two,” said Sheanita Brown, Shanasia’s mother. “Taxes make a lot of difference, even though we travel from North Carolina it still helps out.”

Nick Egelanian, founder of SiteWorks Retail Real Estate, said any comparison to the weekend to Black Friday is not completely far-fetched.

“It’s kind of like Black Friday — or what is becoming Black Thursday to Monday — but the big difference is that this is not necessarily a big sale — it is a tax holiday,” Egelanian said.  “They are often held during back to school periods and do stimulate demand at the moment. However…the momentary surges that occur are almost certainly coming from other periods or retailers when/where the dollars would otherwise have be spent.”

You can even take advantage of these deals online.