The store doors had only been open an hour and a half, and Shalonda Haggard, a clerk at Rue 21 at the Outlets at Vicksburg, was working at full speed, scanning price tags and trying work through the growing line.

Friday marked the first day of Mississippi’s first-ever Sales Tax Holiday, a mandatory statewide 48-hour suspension of the state’s 7 percent sales tax. The holiday ends at midnight tonight and comes days before the Vicksburg Warren School District’s first day of classes, set for Tuesday.

Rue 21 had people waiting in line at 7:45 a.m., more than an hour before the store opened, said Paige Caldwell, marketing director for the Outlets of Vicksburg. “People were here early in the day, and they haven’t left,” she said around 6 Friday evening. “There are cars everywhere.”

“It’s been all about back-to-school today,” said Alvin Richardson, store manager for JCPenney at Pemberton Square mall, which he said was “jumping” with business. “Shoes, uniforms — the whole 9 yards.”

“It’s a good opportunity to save something,” said Ivelissa Torres, who was shopping Friday morning at the Outlets with her 2- and 4-year-old daughters.

The Sales Tax Holiday only applies to certain items which can be found on the Mississippi State Tax Commission Web site. Although the holiday was planned to catch back-to-school shoppers, eligible items are limited to clothing and footwear that costs less than $100 per item.

“It would be good if they included more school supplies,” Torres said. “It’s good, but it could be better.”

Bobbie Garcia, a Utica resident who was shopping at JCPenney, was less than excited about the money she would save on sales tax.

“I’d rather just come to a sale,” Garcia said. “It’s good, but I can’t see what’s so captivating about it.”

But other shoppers may disagree. After only the first couple hours, Haggard said the crowd was about the same as on the day after Thanksgiving, the busiest shopping day of the year.

Holly Kennedy, the Gap’s store manager, said customers were waiting at the door when the store opened Friday morning.

Kennedy said she was not allowed to comment on sales figures, but Friday evening said, “It’s been very lucrative.”

“This was a test year,” said Caldwell. “It’s going well in Vicksburg, and I’m sure it’s going well in other places, too. Both shoppers and tenants have told me they hope it’s done again next year, but it will be good if there are less restraints, and maybe it can run the entire weekend.”

The Outlets combined the occasion with its annual Back-to-School and After-Dark sales, for which the stores stay open an extra two hours, until 11 p.m., and customers can get extra discounts on items they buy between 7 and 11 p.m. The mall also opened an hour early, at 9 a.m., on both days of the Sales Tax Holiday.

“One store at noon reported they had already doubled what they were supposed to do for the day,” said Caldwell, though she could not release figures. “Another manager said their store had made by 4 p.m. what they normally make in a week.”

Caldwell said the mall was hoping to pull in people from Louisiana, where the Sales Tax Holiday won’t happen for another several weeks.

And the plan might have worked. Tallulah resident Valencia Williams was doing her back-to-school shopping at the Outlets Friday morning.

Pemberton Square mall had no extra promotions and was sticking to its regular hours, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. But administrative assistant Cindy Hearn said the mall had been “really busy,” especially at some of the department stores.

Friday evening, Richardson said his store would probably double its usual Friday sales figures, but store policy prevented him from saying what the normal volume is. “Going into it, no one knew exactly what to expect, but it’s gone very smoothly,” he said.

JCPenney had a couple of other discounts available in addition to the Sales Tax Holiday.

“You gotta get the ducks while they’re flying,” Richardson said.