Our Coop Runneth Over

California has more turkeys than ever.

In fact, they are so plentiful this year that retail prices in the hotly competitive Southern California market are expected to drop as low as 39 cents a pound, with many supermarkets virtually giving the birds away to lure holiday shoppers.

“Look for a blood-letting situation down there,” advised Mervin W. Amerine, manager of the California Turkey Industry Federation in Modesto.

California contributes about 12% of the nation’s estimated 240 million birds, making the state the third-largest producer after North Carolina and Minnesota. Amerine said turkey consumption continues to climb, but not as fast as the turkey population.

“It’s good for consumers, but not good for producers,” he said.

Pulling the Rug . . . or Wool?

It’s been all over radio, TV and the newspaper: J. H. Minassian & Co., which has sold rugs in Los Angeles since 1905, is apparently going out of business. As one advertisement put it: “The Oldest, Most Respected Oriental Rug Merchant in L.A. Regretfully Closes Its Doors on Vermont Ave. Forever.” The reason: a new shopping center is replacing the building. And, says the rug company, the result is enormous savings (up to 70%) for the public, “because we are closing our doors at close-out prices” and “must sell every single one of our thousands of rugs.”

But wait. It’s a come-on, not a close-out. It turns out that Minassian is only closing shop on Vermont and will reopen next spring in the Pacific Design Center. It also turns out the company isn’t really desperate to sell every single rug. “Whatever we can take with us, we will,” co-owner David Soleimani says. “We’re going out of business for a period of time.”

Laguna’s Gingerbread Man

Christmas visions of sugarplums may dance in some heads, but for Laguna Beach art and antiques dealer Richard Yeakel, it’s gingerbread. Lots of it. Enough to cover the front of his new store that sells Christmas ornaments, many made by local artists.

Yeakel is using an ultrahard version of the caloric material as shingles on the outside of his beachfront Laguna Christmas Store. The holiday look is completed with icicles and cake icing.

“The Coastal Commission approved the colors, but they didn’t ask me what it was made of,” said Yeakel, who owns three galleries in Laguna Beach and co-owns another in New York.

Lest would-be cookie monsters get any ideas, the gingerbread is no longer edible. It has been treated with varnish and Elmer’s Glue to withstand the elements.

Haven’t They Seen L.A. Law?

Have an L.A. state of mind, but you’ve left your heart in San Francisco? There are law firms prepared to pay major bucks to accommodate such cultural schizophrenia.

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, the big New York-based firm, wants to expand its Los Angeles-based West Coast operations but can’t seem to move an apparent trove of immovable minds from the Bay Area, even with salaries starting at $71,000.

“There are good lawyers in San Francisco who are unwilling to leave,” explained Mike Diamond, managing partner of the firm’s jilted Los Angeles office. So by the end of the year, the firm plans to triple the size of its five-lawyer “satellite office” in San Francisco.

Also looking north is Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. The venerable Los Angeles firm has about 10 lawyers in the City, says Larry Calof, managing partner of the San Francisco operation, and expects to fill office space for 30 by 1990.

Highly Charged Video Battle

Zap. The titans in the video game business have taken aim at each other in San Jose.

Nintendo, a Japanese company credited with reviving the $600-million video game market, has gone to federal court to kill those Atari ads that say its new XE video game system has “hundreds of games” available.

Wrong, says Nintendo, which counts only 35 game cartridges. Atari admits that it doesn’t have hundreds of games especially made for the XE but says cartridges from other Atari game systems can be used on it.

Atari, based in Sunnyvale, figures that it has scored a hit. The lawsuit, says Atari Vice President Michael Katz, “indicates Nintendo is being hurt.”