Holiday Buying Season Off to a Subdued Start : Economy: Sunny weather, recession fears are blamed. Some merchants say gloomy reports are exaggerated.

Consumers crowded America’s retailers on Friday, the start of the traditional Christmas shopping season, but the holiday spirit--and gift buying--was tempered by the specter of a national recession.

“People didn’t whip out their credit cards,” said Kurt Barnard, publisher of the Retail Marketing Report newsletter, after surveying shops and malls in the New York area. “Mostly,” he added, “they were just looking.”

In Southern California, the shopping season got off to a slow start Friday morning at many malls where crowds were sparse, lines relatively short and parking abundant. Some retailers blamed the warm, sunny weather for keeping people outdoors, and noted that business picked up at many shopping centers later in the day. Many consumers said it was hard to get into a shopping mood.

“People are talking about cutbacks. There are too many crises,” said Edward Johnson, a Pasadena resident who was looking to cut his holiday spending bill in half from last year by bargain hunting at the Glendale Galleria. “It just seems like it’s not the time to go shopping.”

Along with growing concerns about the U.S. economy, the annual day-after-Thanksgiving outpouring of shoppers comes in a year that has witnessed a string of big retailing bankruptcies. To avoid big losses and profit declines posted over the past 12 months, many merchants have cut costs by firing thousands of workers and trimming inventories.

Retailers also have tried to attract customers with a blizzard of special sales, price markdowns and other promotional gimmicks, but those tactics appeared, at best, only moderately successful on Friday.

The subdued Christmas shopping mood of many consumers dovetailed with reports that consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest level since the 1981 recession, largely because of the weakening economy and the Persian Gulf crisis. A survey released Friday by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, a leading market research firm, shows that consumers have continued to grow more cautious this month.

In its monthly survey of 450 households across the nation, the firm found that 46% of those polled plan to spend less than they did a year ago on holiday gifts, versus 25% spending more. A year ago, heading into what proved to be a very weak Christmas for retailers, 36% said they planned to spend less and 33% predicted that they would spend more.

In downtown Chicago, observers said the crowds seemed thinner than a year ago and that shoppers were carrying fewer packages.

Cathy Baugh, a Salvation Army worker collecting Christmas donations on upscale North Michigan Avenue, said that last holiday season many shoppers “actually gave bills, but this year it’s just spare change.”

In northwest Atlanta’s Cumberland Mall, shoppers lined up to buy Reebok sneakers at discounts of up to 34% at a Rich’s department store.

One shopper, Alma Hart, said she bought $300 worth of sneakers. “A big sale like this helps,” she said. Across the mall at a Macy’s store, the shoe discounts were not as deep and the customer traffic was slower.

In downtown San Francisco, early morning promotions at the Emporium department store on Market Street lured a horde of bargain hunters. Katy Sullivan, who came in from Fresno to get a jump on Christmas shopping, said the store seemed to be more crowded than in previous years, and the sale prices were much better than in the past.

“Instead of 30% off, it’s more like 40% this year,” Sullivan said.

In New York, already hit hard by Wall Street layoffs, major department stores appeared much less crowded than last year.

“It was supposed to be a busy day, but it wasn’t,” said a saleswoman in the small-appliance department at Bloomingdale’s.

Among the best-selling items was one of the least expensive: a slim, lightweight telephone, the Swisstel, selling for $19.95.

At Northline Mall in Houston, a city that has been buoyed by recent increases in crude oil prices, shoppers seemed to be doing more looking than buying. Despite national surveys showing concern about the economy, many people expressed no worries about their circumstances.

Gregory Rodriguez, a 33-year-old heavy-equipment operator for the city of Houston, said the Persian Gulf crisis “seems so far away, and I am not personally involved.”

He is going ahead with plans to buy his 9-year-old son a video game. “Santa will bring it,” Rodriguez said. “Our Christmas this year will be the same as last year. Nothing has happened to make us cut back.”

The mood was even more upbeat among shoppers at upscale Bellevue Square, in the economically strong Seattle area.

“I have more money than I’ve ever had” for presents, said shopper Janet Knudsen. Still, Knudsen said, “It’s perceived that everyone else is spending less this year, so I’ve scaled back, too.”

Shoppers and retailers in San Diego were also in a relatively upbeat mood. Dane Lowe of Poway, shopping at Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego, said she did not view the economy as “a real big problem. . . . If everyone buys into it being bad, then it will go down the tubes. It’s a state of mind. If you want it to be bad, it will be.”

At the Fashion Valley shopping center north of San Diego, business was brisk throughout the day. Most merchants and shoppers said that sales and good buys were plentiful.

“We’ve been very busy. It’s much better than last year,” said Carol Ball, a fragrance counter manager at Robinson’s department store. “Business has been down slightly (during the past several months), but we’ve been doing very well today.”

The mood at several other Southern California shopping centers was more subdued Friday morning.

Instead of the crowds of past years, the day started with only a small knot of shoppers at the entrance to Nordstrom at Brea Mall in Orange County. “I thought there would be more (shoppers) down here,” said Anita Rule of Anaheim, who had come to shop with her sister, Rachel Moreno.

At South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, the giant mall’s parking lots were half empty when the day began, but were nearly full with cars by mid-afternoon.

Jim Henwood, general manager of South Coast Plaza, said he was a little worried about the earlier small crowds, but was mindful of how Southern Californians appreciate a beautiful day and expected--rightly, as it turned out--that shoppers would show up in droves in the afternoon.

“I think we are doing better than anticipated,” Henwood said. “We enjoyed a very relaxing start today with the weather outside. It was ideal.”

The morning shopping crowd at Century City Shopping Center and Marketplace was also sparse as Sylvia Morren, co-owner of Fil a Fil, arranged merchandise in the empty men’s and women’s shirt shop. “It was very slow last week, and we do not feel at all that it is the biggest shopping day of the year.”

Century City shopper Bertha Taylor said she is cutting her Christmas shopping back by half this year--not because she has had a financial catastrophe, but because she is “worried about what’s going to happen next” in this shaky economy.

Discount stores appeared to be doing a brisk business. The parking lots of a Target and nearby Pic ‘N’ Save in Pacoima were packed, in sharp contrast to a very quiet Sherman Oaks Galleria on Friday morning.

Connie Carbajal, walking out of the Target store, said, “We’re just being more careful” this year. “Usually we just kind of freely buy, but not this year,” she said.

Industry experts note that it is far too early to tell whether this will be the nation’s fourth weak Christmas season in a row. Holiday business generally accounts for 50% or more of many big retailers’ profits, so gloomy predictions have aroused deep concerns.

With more and more shoppers in recent years waiting until the final week before Christmas to buy their gifts, the early days of the season play a less important role. Some retailers have also expressed hope that the early arrival of Thanksgiving this year, providing a longer shopping season, could boost business. They say that resolution of the Persian Gulf crisis would raise consumer confidence.

Also working in the retailers’ favor is the fact that many shoppers--even those who are worried about the economy--are not about to scrimp on Christmas.

In Century City, business was bustling at Toys International, where talking Bart Simpson dolls (Don’t have a cow, man!) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles merchandise were particularly popular items.

“People will cut back for themselves and buy strong for the kids,” said manager John Brandt. “We are not seeing the horrible Christmas everyone’s talking about in retail. . . . At worst, I’d say this will be a fair Christmas. We’ll be up over last year.”

Stuart Silverstein reported from Chicago and Jesus Sanchez reported from Los Angeles. Also contributing to this story were Times staff writers Maria La Ganga and John Medearis in Los Angeles, Anne Michaud and Chris Woodyard in Orange County, Chris Kraul and John Cramer in San Diego, Jonathan Weber in San Francisco, Doug Conner in Seattle, Lianne Hart in Houston, Scot Paltrow in New York and Edith Stanley in Atlanta.