They came from all over Marengo County — and beyond. With a gleam in their eyes and shopping carts full to bursting, area residents took full advantage of the first day of the state’s tax-free weekend Friday.

“It’s just a good deal, especially if you have kids,” Livingston’s Kim Oliver said. “We’re probably going to spend about $400 today, so we’ll save a lot in taxes.”

And the weekend was off to a good start for area merchants, too.

“We do expect more sales on this weekend,” Demopolis business owner Trish McVay said. “We’ve made some minor adjustments to our schedule to accomodate our customers.”

Still others used the tax-free weekend to make major purchases. Len Howard bought his 11-year-old son a laptop computer.

“It’s too good a deal to pass up,” he said. “We were planning on getting him a computer for his birthday, but we waited because it would mean so much in savings to buy it on the tax-free holiday.”

Alabama’s tax-free holiday goes through Sunday at midnight.