Subdued Holiday in Santa Ana : Retail: Decision to postpone Cinco de Mayo events in wake of L.A. unrest gives downtown merchants little to celebrate.

On the eve of the Cinco de Mayo holiday, the Fiesta Marketplace in downtown Santa Ana was almost deserted Monday afternoon.

The mood among retailers in the predominantly Latino shopping district on 4th Street was mostly subdued. Last week’s rioting in Los Angeles and other communities has kept customers away from the Santa Ana shopping area, even though there have been no incidents of vandalism or looting there.

Last Friday, merchants in the marketplace decided to indefinitely postpone the annual Cinco de Mayo event, putting another damper on businesses already hurting from the slow economy. Last year, the holiday celebration drew about 150,000 people to the area, said Irving Chase, owner of Chase Development, co-manager of the marketplace.

Organizers were hoping for an even bigger crowd this year after spending $50,000 for radio advertising during the past six weeks, he said.

The Los Angeles riots have resulted in a drop-off in business of up to 50% of normal, merchants said. Some retailers were already closing their shops by midafternoon Monday. Some said they feared that holiday revelers might gather in the marketplace Monday evening and cause trouble when they discovered that stores and restaurants were closed.

Downtown Santa Ana had served as a magnet for Orange County’s Latino community to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, which marks the victory of the Mexican army over a much larger force of well-armed French troops on May 5, 1862. Merchants, already battered by the recession, said they were hoping for improved sales during this festival but opted to postpone the event.

“We would rather risk earning less and keep our merchandise than have our properties damaged by possible vandalism or, worse, looted by rioters,” said Jose Ceballos, 37, owner of Discoteca y Electronica Mexico, a clothing and electronics store.

Ceballos should know. Last week, another business he operates in Huntington Park was looted and torched during the rioting that followed the verdict in the Rodney King case. About $400,000 in merchandise and $100,000 in office equipment and fixtures was destroyed.

Business has been off at La Perlita restaurant on Santa Ana’s Main Street, but the restaurant still plans to have a special Cinco de Mayo celebration with a mariachi band this evening.

Some retailers that have not experienced a drop in sales are video rental stores and record and tape stores. Merchants say more people are planning to stay home to celebrate the holiday this year.

“Sales have been normal . . . (but) it could have been better if more people were out shopping,” said Macario Baeza, 32, manager of the Ritmo Latino music store.

Across the street from Baeza’s store, the Million Video Store was also doing a brisk business Monday, despite closing at 6 p.m. instead of the usual 10 p.m. The earlier hours have been in effect since late last week, said Angelica Martinez, the store’s manager.

Martinez said sales would have been even better with regular hours because much of the store’s business comes from the after-work crowd.

For the handful of Korean-owned businesses in the Fiesta Marketplace, the cancellation of the celebration makes a bad situation even worse.

“This is the worst Cinco de Mayo I’ve had,” said Young Cho, owner of Fashion Fiesta, a women’s clothing store that does about 15% of its business around Cinco de Mayo.