Mall Traffic Stronger Than Expected : 1st Big Shopping Day Calms Retailers’ Fears

Drawn by steep markdowns and “early bird” specials, holiday shoppers crowded the nation’s malls and downtown stores Friday, prompting relieved sighs from retailers who feared that financial upheaval might chill Christmas spending.

In Southern California, many shopping centers got off to a slow start but generally reported brisk business by lunchtime, with determined customers circling parking lots for as much as half an hour to find spots. Once they did, they made beelines for the stores’ many sale racks.

“There’s no question that traffic is up substantially from last year,” said William D. McDonald Jr., senior vice president of marketing and sales promotion at the 43-store Broadway chain, Southern California’s largest department store operation. “We’re quite pleased with the sense that the customer is out, at least. (But) the next day or two . . . will show if they’re buying or just looking.”

At Century City Shopping Center, Diane Frierson seemed to be typical of many shoppers. She plans to give just as many gifts this year but is looking mainly for sale items because of worries about what will happen to the economy next year.

“We’re not impulse-buying,” the Los Angeles resident said. “We’re taking our time, looking for sales. We’re playing it close to the vest.”

As the Christmas selling season got under way Friday, customers and merchants alike seemed to be approaching it with caution. With many economists forecasting weak spending this holiday season, consumers are being watched as a barometer for the overall economy.

From New York to Houston to Atlanta to Miami, Christmas shoppers told of plans to hold the line and plans to go whole hog. If merchants wanted a consensus, there was none to be found.

Among retailers expressing relief was Marshall Field & Co. in Chicago. “There was some anxiety, certainly, but it looks as if people are out,” said Paul Costello, a spokesman at the chain’s downtown flagship store on State Street. The store expected a “terrific day,” he said, with an estimated 175,000 people enduring a dreary light rain to cruise the store’s crowded aisles.

By 8 a.m. in Manhattan, radio deejays were alerting prospective shoppers still trying to sleep off turkey dinners that traffic was backed up near the metropolitan area’s big malls. Along Fifth Avenue, where a nippy drizzle chilled pedestrians, the market for bears was bullish at F.A.O. Schwarz, the tony toy store. Clad in tweed and velvet, seersucker and down, dressed as lumberjacks and queens, these stuffed animals enchanted youngsters and prompted parents to open their pocketbooks.

“This is not the year of one great toy,” said Peter Harris, president and chief executive, who had just reunited a lost child with a frantic parent in the crowded store. “Customers are looking for quality and predictability, something that is going to last and be around for a while.”

25% Off at Fiorucci

Fiorucci, a funky clothing and oddities store, used the unprecedented lure of a day-after-Thanksgiving, 25% discount to spur sales. “I think that people are a little scared because of the (Oct. 19 stock market) crash,” said Tara Moran, director of operations.

Gray skies and misty rain didn’t thwart shoppers headed to Atlanta’s Lenox Square shopping center on Peachtree Street. Major stores opened at 7:30 a.m., and Rich’s department store offered additional discounts--many on name-brand merchandise such as Van Heusen shirts and Levi’s jeans--good from 7:30 to 10 only. Every 30 minutes, an announcer advised shoppers as to how many minutes they had left until 10 a.m.

In Houston’s Galleria, the situation was much the same, with the bigger, promotion-minded department stores such as Macy’s and Marshall Field ringing up most of the sales, while specialty boutiques experienced a quieter day.

Miami shoppers turned out in force by mid-morning in sunny, 80-degree weather. At the Falls, a suburban outdoor mall in Kendall, Bloomingdale’s was the main attraction. With prices slashed an average of 30%, all departments were bustling. Women flipped through racks in the Next Generation department, where children’s clothes were half price.

Biggest Shopping Day

Such sales are prevalent this year. The day after Thanksgiving is widely regarded to be the nation’s biggest shopping day of the year. It officially ushers in the Christmas shopping season and serves as a bellwether for the retailing industry’s most important selling period, which can account for as much as 40% of annual sales and 60% of profits.

In years past, retailers seldom offered many bargains during the holiday shopping season, when captive gift givers were inclined to spend full price for the right item. But this year promises to offer good hunting for bargain hounds, although the sharp price cutting does not bode well for retailers’ profits.

“I’ll be a little less frivolous this year,” said Joy Braley, a shopper at University Towne Centre, a mall near affluent La Jolla in San Diego County. “I’ve always been frivolous in a big way before. (But) we’re due for a downturn.”

Mark Ashton, the mall’s general manager, said the stock market crash has provoked concern about the effect on Christmas shoppers. But he said the mall’s sales have not suffered much in the weeks since and have maintained a growth rate of 7% to 10% over last year, compared to a 4% gain in 1986 over 1985.

At Century City Shopping Center the turnout was sparse early on but increased toward lunchtime.

“Westside shoppers sleep in,” general manager Michael F. Strle said. But by midday, traffic was spilling into overflow lots as consumers came to size up the many new shops at the revamped mall. Strle estimated that the crowd was bigger this year than last.

Early in the day, browsers appeared to outnumber buyers, and the most serious shoppers seemed concentrated around the sale racks and tables. Inexpensive clothing, toys and ornaments found their way into many shopping bags, but the big-ticket items stayed on the shelves.

Shoppers Packed In

The picture was far more robust at the Glendale Galleria, where shoppers were packed shoulder to shoulder by noon along the main concourse. Based on heavy morning traffic, the 255-store center expected a record 150,000 customers.

“This is the best turnout we have ever had,” said Vicki A. Conrad, the mall’s general manager. She credits the good weather and an increase in sales promotions and advertising. “We have stores that did nothing last year and promoted this year.”

At the newly opened Countdown men’s store, manager Joe Pinedo said sweaters in bright colors and bold patterns were moving fast. The fact that the store had not gotten around to tagging some of the clothing did not deter shoppers. “They don’t ask (about the price) until they buy it,” Pinedo said.

Many customers said that, even if they spend as much money as last year on gifts, they intend to buy more practical items, such as clothing.

Talk of recession “makes us more cautious about our spending,” said Egmidio Rances, 30, a security officer. For example, he and his wife, Shirley, 29, spent the morning shopping for a dress for her but had not found the right style or price.

Merchants at Claremont Village, the downtown shopping district of Claremont, suspected that aggressive promotions by mall department stores contributed to slow business. Elaine Gicciardo, owner of Elaine’s Interiors, said customers “are buying more quality items, not the frivolous.” Customers, for example, were choosing vases over fluted champagne glasses.

Tough to Find Parking

At Nordstrom in the Westside Pavilion, shoppers were taking advantage of widespread sales in women’s apparel and shoe departments. Aggressive salespeople made it difficult to just browse.

At South Coast Plaza, Orange County’s premier mall, spaces in the 12,000-spot main parking lot were already at a premium by noon. Jim Henwood, the mall’s general manager, predicted a record turnout for the day after Thanksgiving. “It’s going very well--certainly every bit as successful as last year, if not more so--in spite of predictions about Black Monday and the stock market disaster,” said Maura Eggan, marketing director.

Christmas got off to an extraordinarily slow start in the San Fernando Valley. By 10 a.m.--two hours after many shops had opened--there were only 150 people in the Sherman Oaks Galleria, according to Jack Feaster, security director for the mall. He projected the total to reach 1,200 by noon. Things picked up later.

Retailers remained optimistic but admitted that they’re having to work harder to get customers. “We have more promotions than last year,” reported Debbie Torres, manager of Lane Bryant, a specialty-size apparel shop at the Galleria. “People will buy more realistically this Christmas.”

A K mart discount store in Torrance was “operating at just about the maximum as far as what we can ring through,” said store manager Jerry G. Douglas. Overall, business was up slightly from last Christmas season, he said, with sales of jewelry, appliances and clothing doing best. “It’s pretty much the same (products). Just more folks buying more stuff.”

If retailers could ask Santa for a gift this season, it would probably be for more shoppers like June Morrill and Marjory Ingliss at Glendale Galleria. With shopping bags at their feet and chocolate chip cookies in their hands, they were taking a breather after completing the first two hours of a traditional 10-hour spree. The two women, childhood friends who work in the accounting department of Pacific Bell, were unfazed by the growing throng of shoppers. “We couldn’t care less,” said Ingliss. “We’re here with charge cards, cash and checkbooks.” After finishing their cookies, the pair were going to head off to their cars to unload and return for more. Said Morrill: “We look more forward to this than we do Thanksgiving.”

Contributing to this report were Leslie Eringaard in Detroit, Lorna Nones in Miami, Eileen V. Quigley in New York, Rhona Schwartz in Houston, Edith Stanley in Atlanta, Jesus Sanchez, Carla Lazzareschi, Nancy Rivera Brooks and Keith Bradsher in Los Angeles, Mary Ann Galante in Orange County, Greg Johnson and Chris Kraul in San Diego, and Gregory Crouch in the San Fernando Valley.