Shoppers Pile It On in County

By RUSS STANTON

Nov. 29, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Blessed by sunny skies and sales galore, shoppers descended on Orange County stores Friday, rewarding many retailers with a jump-start on the traditional launch of the holiday shopping season.

Morning saw the bulk of business go to the big discount chains, which lured shoppers with early bird sales. But by mid-afternoon, parking spots were nearly impossible to come by at the county’s major shopping centers, such as Fashion Island Newport Beach and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

“I was looking at the sale ads [Thursday] in the paper, and that got me in the mood to go shopping,” said Chuck Binks, an Orange County firefighter and part-time mortgage broker, as he was leaving Tustin Market Place. “There’s a lot on sale. I have lots of money, and I feel like spending money.”

Although some malls reported lighter volume of shoppers, turnout overall was up 5% to 10% nationally and in Southern California, according to estimates from the International Council of Shopping Centers, which surveys malls nationwide.

That prompted industry analysts to stick with predictions of a modest 3% to 5% sales increase over the moderately successful 1996 holiday season.

Many analysts expect slightly better results in Southern California, where merchants hope to record their first back-to-back seasonal sales increases this decade after being ravaged by the early-1990s recession.

Video games, talking dolls and warm-weather apparel were among the best-selling items Friday.

At Target, Holiday Barbie, Sing & Snore Ernie, Talking Christmas Tree and any item tied to Snowden the Snowman were big sellers.

Women’s sweaters were popular thanks to early morning 40%-off sales at chains such as Sears and Montgomery Ward.

In fact, most shoppers Friday said it was bargains they were looking for.

“This year, we have a very cautious consumer who searches for low prices,” said Kurt Barnard, a New Jersey-based retail economist.

Among them was Marilyn Robbins, a 53-year-old grandmother who stood in the checkout line for an hour at Kay-Bee Toys’ Huntington Beach store. “This is a great bargain,” she said, beaming, pointing to a remote control Batmobile she got for $9.99, 50% off.

If they were looking for bargains, shoppers had plenty to choose from. No fewer than 29 major retail chains had sale circulars in the Thanksgiving Day newspaper, many offering big discounts in the early hours or chances to win a shopping spree.

Target’s Mission Viejo store was greeted by nearly 400 shoppers when it opened at 7 a.m.

“That started the day off really wild, and it’s been extremely busy ever since,” said store manager Rich Hachigan. Sales “are trending better than last year.”

Indeed, many merchants have high hopes for the 1997 holiday season.

“We’re expecting to make $10,000 in sales today,” said Luz Zavala, manager of the Family Bargain Center in downtown Santa Ana. The store sales on an average day total about $2,000, she said.

Ali Rizza, who operates Shades 2000 at the Irvine Spectrum, was excited by a heavy early turnout at the nearby Edwards Theatres. He figured his stand would be busy once the matinees ended and late sleepers arrived.

“The parking lots are full,” he said, “so people are here.”

The best bargains went to those who started their day early in Orange County.

Earnestine Harvey, a fifth-grade teacher at Russell Elementary in Santa Ana, dropped $105 at Marshalls in Costa Mesa by 9:15 a.m., 15 minutes after the store opened. It was her third stop of the day.

“I hate looking for a parking place and I hate to stand in line,” said Harvey, carrying two big bags of clothes. “By the time everybody wakes up, I’m already home.”

By 9:30 a.m., parking places were scarce at Fry’s Electronics store in Fountain Valley, where Pardeep Singh was rushing to his car, an Epson color printer nestled in his shopping cart. Singh, a 23-year-old warehouseman for Lucky supermarkets, started his holiday shopping last week, earlier than last year so “I can get it all done in time.”

At the Huntington Beach Mall, by far the busiest retailer was Kay-Bee Toys, which had a 50% off early-bird sale on 42 items ranging from talking Barney to a remote control Batmobile to Barbie’s Dream House.

The store was a madhouse. The noise level was so high that employees had to shout to be heard. At 10:30 a.m., 85 customers stood in the checkout line, which snaked along the store’s perimeter and out into the mall.

Chased away by huge crowds at Wal-Mart and Mervyn’s stores at Anaheim Plaza, Rose Inkley and her four children found some respite at Toys R Us in Tustin Market Place.

“I try to get a good deal on everything,” said the Santa Ana homemaker, wearing candy-cane earrings and green Santa stockings, piling an armload of toys into her minivan. The longest line she saw at the toy store was for customers waiting for rain checks because some advertised items were either sold out or not available.

At the Mission Viejo Mall, which is scheduled for a major renovation, merchants had hoped for a busy Friday, but by mid-morning they were disappointed.

“I think a lot of the people in the community are waiting for the remodel before they come back to the mall,” said Nicholas Olevsky, co-owner of Lighthouse Toys.

“It’s sad,” echoed Karen Reeser, manager of Ritz Camera. “We’re hoping that it will pick up.” But it did not. The mall was actually livelier the day before Thanksgiving, she said. “It was like people were trying to get a head start.”

But by mid-afternoon, the crowds started to build at South Coast Plaza, the highest-grossing shopping center in the West. More than 25 cars were lined up outside the valet station, many of them double-parked. And it took motorists nearly 20 minutes to navigate through the mall parking garages.

In Laguna Beach, many strolling by the shops along Forest Avenue seemed content simply to look in store windows. With the sunshine warming the sand, store owners found themselves in competition with the nearby beach, where basketball and volleyball games were underway.

“We came before Thanksgiving and shopped,” said 42-year-old Kitty Widman of Minneapolis, who was visiting her mother. “Now we’re going to hit the beach.”

The Thanksgiving week accounts for about 8% of holiday sales, but rarely ranks as the top sales day of the season. Last year, for example, it ranked fifth. Dec. 21, the last Saturday before Christmas, was the busiest day.

However, Friday was significant because retailers invested so heavily to promote sales, said Michael Steinberg, chairman of Macy’s West, the San Francisco-based division that operates the chain’s western stores.

“We promote it more and more, and stores in recent years have been opening earlier and earlier,” he said. “We were happy with our turnout. We believe our Friday was quite strong.”

Greg Weaver, chief executive of Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California, said the 265-store clothing chain will exceed last year’s sales.

“Things appear to be very strong here in California and in the Southeast,” he said. “We’re up across the board--young men’s, juniors, shoes, gift certificates.”

The official sales tally for Friday won’t be known until Sunday and Monday, when chains and mall trade groups report the totals.

Retailers are hoping the strong start continues through the season. In the past, slow starts have resulted in profit-shaving late-season clearance sales that have become the hallmark--and the bane--of merchandising.

“I think there’s a belief that retailers are trying to hold back on promotions, but clearly it’s going to be difficult for them to do that given the way they’ve trained consumers over the past several years,” said Nate Franke, a retail expert at Deloitte & Touche.

The shopping season is crucial because many merchants generate as much as 50% of their annual profits and 30% of their annual sales in the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

Wall Street seemed impressed with the season’s first day, as shares of big department-store chains such as May, Nordstrom and Federated, which owns Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, rose in abbreviated trading Friday. Also gaining were big discount chains such as Kmart, Toys R Us, Wal-Mart and Ross Stores.

In Orange County, not everyone was buying gifts for friends and relatives. Thousands of shoppers bought things for themselves.

Penny Yu and friends Joy Tsai and Cyndi Lin gleefully strolled through MainPlace/Santa Ana, each carrying a bag with a new pair of shoes.

The three young women are studying at Santa Ana College as international students. They had hoped to get invited to an American’s home to observe the Thanksgiving tradition, but the invitation never came.

“So, we just watched TV and ate Chinese food,” said Yu, 18. “We missed out on Thanksgiving dinner but we are enjoying the after-Thanksgiving sales.”

At the Ritmo Latino record store in downtown Santa Ana, Carlos Pedroza bought a Los Capos de Mexico compact disc for himself. “I am all alone in this country so I’m treating myself,” said Pedroza, 24, of Santa Ana.

George Santos earned $100 on Thanksgiving Day selling flowers, and decided to spend it on a new pair of jeans and Nike socks. He also bought his dad a hat for Christmas.

“This is fun,” said Santos, 15, of Santa Ana. “I don’t have to go to school.”

Others were content to simply take in the season.

Tom Ton snapped photographs of a friend in front of a Christmas tree display at MainPlace. “There’s nothing like this in Vietnam,” said the 35-year-old Garden Grove resident, who came to the U.S. six years ago.

“I’m very happy to be here. I’m not Christian but I celebrate Christmas and all the American holidays. [Thursday], we had turkey and banh beo [a Vietnamese dish that includes rice and shrimp]. I’m so thankful for my freedom.”

Times staff writers George White, Vanessa Hua and Susan Abram in Los Angeles, Jon Steinman in the San Fernando Valley and Daryl Strickland in Orange County contributed to this report. Also contributing were correspondents Leslie Earnest and Mimi Ko Cruz in Orange County. Times wire services also contributed.

* IN A SPENDING MOOD: Consumer buying and income rose 0.5% in October, good omens for holiday retailers. D1