Blue Yule Looms for Retailers

Vicki Mitchell usually showers her sister Joyce with Christmas gifts, but this year the two Torrance residents have agreed that two gifts apiece is enough. Kent Durum of Hawthorne is bowing out of Christmas altogether, telling his family not to get him a thing.

And instead of buying presents for her co-workers, Shannon Spear of El Segundo has decided to bake chocolate chip cookies.

“I think we’re all cutting back this year,” she said.

As the holiday shopping season struggled to a start Friday in the midst of a lingering recession, South Bay malls reported sluggish sales on the day after Thanksgiving while shoppers lined up in force at discount stores.

With an eye toward bargains, Spear, 24, and her 70-year-old grandmother decided to do their holiday shopping at Pic ‘N’ Save in Redondo Beach. Both said their shopping lists were smaller and less extravagant than ever before.

As she searched for a gift for her father, Spear walked past displays of cologne and made her way straight to the kitchenware section. “Dad needs a frying pan,” she said. At $2.99 apiece, she bought two.

Durum, who doesn’t want any gifts this year, said he and his wife, Micki, usually spend up to $2,500 on Christmas gifts in a shopping spree that can take several weeks. This year, they have put a $1,000 limit on the gifts. One stop was the Target in Torrance, where about 100 others lined up for store’s 7 a.m. opening.

“We’re more or less trying to be more conservative,” said Durum, 30, who owns a charter bus company. “We’re trying to get it all done at once and to get it over with.”

The shoppers were scarce at the Touch of Glass in the sprawling Del Amo Fashion Center, where manager Dave Porter said sales of his handblown glassware were roughly half as strong as past Christmases. Still, Porter was optimistic.

“Instead of spending $50 for Aunt Martha, people have to spend $20 and that fits right into our price range,” he said, shining up a glass swan. “Aunt Martha won’t be getting a new gold necklace but she might get a nice glass figurine.”

Vicki Mitchell rested in Del Amo’s food court and sipped coffee after hours of browsing, but very little buying.

“It’s really sad,” she said. “I don’t like to think about money when I’m buying gifts. But this year, you’re not being practical if you don’t. They used to say, ‘It’s the thought that counts,’ but the motto this year is, ‘It’s the price that counts.’ ”

Mitchell is following a new rule that she says has been forced on her this year by the economy: “If it isn’t on sale, I won’t buy it.”

“I used to go overboard on Christmas,” she said. “I used to buy tons. Last year, my sister and I restricted it to three gifts a piece. Now it’s two--and the gifts have to be within a reasonable budget.”

Sales people are noticing the frugality. They say they hear the old refrain, “I’m only looking,” more often than usual and find it harder to persuade shoppers to open up wallets and pocketbooks.

“People are just looking, mulling over purchases,” said Frawn Grandados, owner of Camilo Jewelry Originals in the Peninsula Shopping Center.

Added Sarah Chong, manager of the My Gifted Child toy store at Del Amo Fashion Center: “People are trying not to spend a lot of money. They are buying smaller gifts but at least they’re buying.”

Amid the fear of a gloomy Christmas season, some saw a silver lining.

“Maybe with this recession, people will get together and enjoy the holidays instead of competing with the Joneses,” said Tinamarie Lopez, 24, of Torrance. “I think it will be more family-oriented, rather than a showy Christmas.”