This week in retail: Florida’s back-to-school sale tax holiday, getting in the Halloween spirit, and ICSC in Boston

If you’ve been sweating the record-breaking heat across the United States, you’ll (maybe) enjoy this week’s edition because we’re looking ahead to fall.

In shopping: Yes, parents. It’s that time of year. Today marks the beginning of Florida’s annual back-to-school sales tax holiday that runs through August 6. Items that will be exempt from sales tax include:

• Clothing, footwear, and some accessories costing less than $100 per item
• Select school supplies that are $50 or less
• Learning aids and jigsaw puzzles that cost $30 or less
• Computers and some related accessories for noncommercial home or personal use with a sales price of $1,500 or less

In real holidays: Speaking of the fall, the flagship Spirit Halloween store in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, opens its doors on Saturday. It’s the first of 1,500 locations that will re-open starting the first week of August and through the end of September.

• Spirit Halloween’s store locator will be available to shoppers starting today.
• It's the store’s 40th anniversary.

In events: Today, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) will begin a three-day networking event just outside of Boston called ICSC@New England, where experts in the shopping center and marketplaces industry will gather. On Wednesday, retailers will have the opportunity to showcase their brands at the Retailer Central event.

• There will be keynote sessions and panels, including a discussion on retail’s effect on mixed-use development with executives from The Wilder Companies, a Boston-based commercial real estate firm.
• Among the festivities is a meetup for new ICSC members and students on Tuesday.