They Shop ‘Til They Drop--or the Clock Strikes 12 : Retailing: Broadway and May Co. stores are open until midnight. But clerks say customers all act the same--they want everything to be on sale.

It’s close to midnight. The department store Santa Claus has long gone.

But at two places in Ventura County, bleary-eyed shoppers are still cruising department stores in quest of the perfect Christmas present.

“It’s hard to believe it’s almost midnight, and I’m still in a store,” said Joe Beemer, 28, of Thousand Oaks, clutching a pair of turtleneck sweaters at May Co. in Thousand Oaks. Since 5 p.m. he and his wife Karen had cruised two malls, but spent only $70. By 11:45, their feet were sore, the steam gone from their strides.

“It’s marathon shopping,” Beemer said.

This holiday season, as in past years, Friday and Saturday nights at Broadway and May Co. stores belong to the Midnight Mallers--those determined souls who prefer to shop while almost everyone else is at home.

Because of rain Saturday night, the department stores at The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks and the Esplanade Plaza in Oxnard were lonelier than usual.

Vast parking lots stood nearly empty. A few hours earlier they had been jammed with cars. Storefronts with thick iron gates and bolted glass doors had been closed for hours.

Even the custodians were almost finished emptying bins and mopping floors and were ready to call it a day.

But not the Midnight Mallers. They are out at all hours, searching for sales and bargains.

“I had some lady ask if we were going to be open all night,” said Rosa Aguilar, a May Co. clerk folding a stack of turtlenecks at about 11 p.m. “She was serious.”

Security guard Terry Clark said he has seen people window-shopping around The Oaks mall long after the bigger department stores close up shop.

“A lot of people just get in late and shop till they’re kicked out,” Clark said. “I have no clue why anyone would shop at midnight. I’m usually in bed this late.”

Mall officials say some of the late-night shoppers are men who are reluctant to compete for a clerk’s attention during the day when the stores are crammed with people.

“Most of the calls we get during Christmas (about late hours) are from men,” said Barbara Teuscher, general manager of The Oaks mall. “They’re upset when they hear the stores close at 9 p.m.”

That was the case for Ron Swallow, 56, and his son-in-law Pat McDonald, 34, both Thousand Oaks residents. At 9:30 p.m., after dinner with their families and a UCLA basketball game on television, the two men decided to hit the stores without their wives.

At a cosmetics counter at the Broadway, the two men had the exclusive attention of a clerk.

McDonald, a former manager at a cookie store at The Oaks mall, said he and his wife used to hire a baby-sitter so that they could shop late at night.

“You don’t have to fight with the kids touching things,” McDonald said.

Swallow does not have young children at home, but said that late Saturday night was the only time that he could pick out a present for his wife without letting on. “It’s hard to get away when she’s with me,” he said, holding a large plastic bag that contained his wife’s gift.

One Oaks mall shopper said the only way he could keep up his stamina was to take a nap before coming to the mall with his wife and daughter.

“This is the first time I’ve been here this late,” said Rep Padgett, 53, of Agoura Hills as he roamed through the Broadway. “It’s less crowded, that’s for sure.”

Pam Hartwell, general manager of the Esplanade Plaza, said women also take advantage of late hours when they can shed their family responsibilities.

At the Esplanade Plaza, only the May Co.’s shopping hours last until midnight on Friday and Saturday. Many of the smaller stores cannot afford to keep their staff on for late hours.

Shari McGill, 41, of Ventura has done most of her Christmas shopping during late store hours for at least seven years in a row.

“I was here earlier today, and you were rump to rump with everyone,” McGill said, while shopping at the Esplanade Plaza’s May Co. “At least you can get to the counter now,” she said.

“No kids, my husband is at work, and most of the women who come now leave their kids home,” said McGill, her arms full of gifts. “When I was here during the day, you couldn’t turn the corner without bumping into some kid who was screaming because he couldn’t get what he wanted or was tired from being dragged around all day.”

Renee Spaulding, 31, of Moorpark was barely able to stifle a yawn as she and her sister Frances, 35, examined blouses at the May Co. in Thousand Oaks.

“People shouldn’t bring kids shopping,” Renee Spaulding said. “I’ve got four kids. If I brought them, I’d lose them.”

The shoppers who come at night act no differently from those who come in the day, said Laura Raigoza, an assistant manager at May Co.’s Oxnard store.

“The customers are still the same,” she said. “They still want everything to be on sale.”

Psyche Pascual is a Times staff writer and Peggy Y. Lee is a Times correspondent.