Shoppers Seek Bargains in Dull Retail Season : Holidays: Many buyers are ignoring big-ticket items in favor of marked-down toys and clothing in a ‘most competitive’ situation for stores.

For Ventura County retailers, a less-than-glittering Christmas season is finally drawing to a close. Although the county’s store executives say their holiday business hasn’t been a bell ringer, most agree that it hasn’t been a disaster, either.

Some managers are holding out hope for a rush of last-minute buying this weekend to raise sales nearer last year’s levels.

Christmas 1990, many county retailers say, was the season when customers walked past big-ticket items such as refrigerators, sofas and stoves, looking instead for markdowns on toys and sweaters.

“People would come in, find an item they liked and say, ‘We’ll wait for it to go on sale,’ ” said Don Facciano, manager of Sears Roebuck’s Oxnard store.

All in all, Facciano said, the season that “was good, but not up to our expectations.” Like most retailers, he declined to disclose figures.

“The retail environment is the most competitive I’ve ever seen,” he added.

Although Sears offered deep discounts and so-called zero financing on some of its higher-priced merchandise, customers tended to ignore many of these deals, buying sharply reduced clothing and jewelry instead, he said. On the other hand, home electronics, such as TVs and video recorders, have sold well, he said.

At the Toys R Us store in Ventura, store director Jeff Ferreira said, “Consumers are definitely price-conscious. They know how much they want to spend and mostly they’re sticking to it.”

Ferreira said Toys R Us has been most successful with such sale items as Nintendo games selling for $19.98 instead of the usual $35 to $50.

“And we’ve sold hundreds of Super Fast Machines, a racing car set that originally listed at $69.99,” he said. The current price: $9.98.

Even with these promotions, sales are “a little below last year,” Ferreira said.

Activity at the JC Penney store in Ventura started to pick up last weekend, “but the previous month was disappointing,” said store Manager Jim Word.

“People finally decided to buy last weekend,” he said. “Maybe it’s the cooler weather we’ve been having. That puts people in a holiday frame of mind.”

Sales of jackets and sweaters improved at Penney as soon as temperatures dropped, Word said.

He said women’s clothing is doing particularly well and menswear is “starting to come back,” but that jewelry is “a little weaker than expected.”

He also reported what he called a surprising demand for men’s shorts and other warm-weather clothing. “I suspect people are buying them as gifts for our forces in the Persian Gulf.”

Compared to the 1989 Christmas season, “we’ll probably come out about even this year.”

Such lackluster results--meaning sales failed to keep up with inflation--would be in line with many retail analysts’ predictions.

In The Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks, Dave Geiger, manager of Ritz Camera, said business this season is running about 10% to 15% below last year’s pace.

“Medium-priced cameras, ranging from about $150 to $450, are doing nicely,” he said, “but more expensive items, such as video cameras, are not moving as well as last year.”

Sales of the camcorders, which cost about $800 to $1,200, are off about 30%, Geiger said, adding:

“But I still feel business has been better than some economists predicted. I feel we’ll come out quite well, if not as strong as last year.”

Consumers’ widespread concern about prices appears to have benefited the county’s discount stores.

“We’re doing very well--better than last year,” said Jeff Bick, manager of the K mart store in Camarillo. Still, he said shoppers this year “are spending more on basic items rather than the seasonal, gifty stuff.”

Items that are moving especially well, Bick said, include toys, clothing, TVs and toaster ovens. “Nintendo games are doing fairly well, but compact disc players are not real hot,” he said.

“People are very value-conscious. They’re waiting for sale items. Markdowns are very important to them.”

Steve Hoxmeier, manager of the Target discount store in Simi Valley, said sales are “comparable with last year” despite defense-industry layoffs that have affected some residents.

“I’m happy,” he said. “People are in a good mood. We’ve had no decrease from last Christmas, possibly because we’re a discount store and customers are extremely price-conscious.”

Turtleneck sweaters, exercise outfits and a computer toy called Game Boy that sells for $89.99 have been moving especially well, Hoxmeier said. Unlike K mart’s Bick, he reported strong sales of compact disc players. “They’re having their first big year,” he said.

Another retailer reporting Christmas business about even with last year’s pace was Joe Raabe, manager of the Mervyn’s store in Oxnard.

“So far we’re very pleased, but. . . .the retail environment is very tough this year.”

Lisa King, manager of two stores in Ventura’s Buenaventura Mall--Judy’s, which sells medium-priced dresses, and GHQ, which features menswear--said volume is down a few percentage points at both.

“We’ve been reducing some prices at Judy’s by a third, and that helps,” she said. She added that some shoppers may have avoided the mall because they didn’t realize that a longstanding renovation project there has been halted until after the holidays.

At The Oaks Mall, Gabrielle Smith, manager of the Lanz of California women’s wear store, said, “It’s been pretty slow. We’ve been successful in moving some dresses that were reduced from $180 to $109, but we’re definitely below last year.”

And Vikki Coronado, district manager of Wet Seal, a group of stores that sell young women’s sportswear, said sales at the chain’s units in both Thousand Oaks and Oxnard are “a little below last year.”

But, she added: “We’re doing fair in view of the economy, which has hit everybody.”

Sears’ Facciano suggested one bright spot that may help retailers this holiday season: the calendar.

“Christmas falls on a Tuesday this year,” he said. “That means we’ll have what amounts to a three-day weekend for last-minute shopping. We’re hoping for a dynamite final weekend.”

* LAST CHANCE: Merchants hold out hope for a three-day sales blitz. D1