Shoppers Give Sales a Boost at O.C. Stores

Buoyed by signs of an improving economy and fed up with belt-tightening, shoppers nationwide Friday made the customary opening day of the Christmas retail season the brightest in several years, although many were seeking bargains, not status symbols.

People ventured out in large numbers to browse and buy throughout Orange County and the rest of Southern California, undaunted by an early morning earthquake and an economic recovery that lags that in the rest of the nation. At South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, shoppers at Sears were standing 20 deep at checkout counters by 9:30 a.m. after surging through the store earlier to look for bargains.

At Westminster Mall, “it’s been a real great day,” General Manager Nancy Freightner said. “It looks like everyone decided to come out and have a shopping frenzy.”

And in Glendale, Bill Clinton helped kick off the season by paying a visit to the Galleria shopping center as new government reports on the economy prepared a welcome basket of good news for the incoming President. The Commerce Department reported Friday that Americans’ personal incomes jumped 1% in October, the biggest rise in 10 months.

As shoppers headed out to do their part for the November statistics, the government also reported Friday that consumer spending was up 0.7% in October after having risen significantly in September.

Across the nation, many shoppers said that the prospect of having a new President gives them hope.

With the tone set by a President-elect known more for his tastes in junk food than high fashion, and by First Lady-to-be Hillary Clinton, known for her stylish but dollar-conscious, off-the-rack fashions, shoppers headed in droves for discount stores. What Nancy Reagan did for Lenox china and Adolfo dresses in the 1980s, Bill Clinton--whose salary until now has been a solidly middle-class $35,000 a year--may do for the Wal-Marts of the world.

In Seattle at the Southcenter Mall, the longest line backed up behind the cash register in a store called “Everything’s a Dollar.”

At Wal-Mart in Little Rock and K marts in Los Angeles, parking lots were nearly full by their 7 a.m. openings. At a K mart in South Los Angeles, a small crowd waited outside for doors to open, and later shoppers were forced to park in the surrounding neighborhood and walk into the plaza.

Even stores catering to the well-to-do found that people responded to discounts. At upscale tableware merchant Geary’s Beverly Hills, “we’re not doing good. We’re doing superb,” said President Bruce Meyer, who has cut prices sharply this year.

By 4 p.m. Friday, the store had sold a dozen diamond- and ruby-encrusted Faberge eggs at $1,500 to $8,000 apiece. But while volume was up, Meyer said, “we’ve reduced our margins substantially. It’s a price-driven market.” A place setting of Wedgwood china that sold for $149 last year, for example, is offered this year at $109.95.

By late afternoon, the day’s sales were up nearly 3% from a year earlier at Orange County merchants that are clients of one major bank check authorization service, JBS Associates Inc. in Ringwood, N.J.

While that increase was not as strong those as seen by retailers elsewhere in the nation--JBS found a solid 3% or better in much of the country--it indicated that Orange County’s merchants are rebounding from the recession.

Many shoppers seemed to think so too.

“Contrary to everybody’s thinking, the global economy is pretty good,” said Dave Rodgers of Mission Viejo as he shopped in Santa Ana. “I’m spending three times as much on presents compared to last year. I’m more optimistic than other people.”

“I feel revitalized because of the change going into the White House,” said Mary Erler of San Clemente as she took a break from shopping at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. “It’s not that I blame (President) Bush for the recession, . . . (but) Clinton represents something different.”

Shoppers also said, however, that they plan to shop cautiously, restraining themselves in many cases by using cash, not plastic, for purchases. Others said they will hold back until they see stronger signs of economic recovery.

The theme of the day was clearly value for the money. Whether they were shopping for Baccarat crystal in Beverly Hills boutiques or Barbies in K marts, shoppers pulled out their wallets for good prices and turned their noses up at uncompetitive price tags.

In Anaheim, K mart manager Mike Hawkins said: “Traffic has been strong. Overall, people are buying lots of home decorations, lots of toys and clothing.”

Many Mervyn’s department stores reported strong sales as shoppers lined up for advertised specials. At 8:15 a.m., Cyrell Schwartzbaum was standing in a line of shoppers 18 deep so that she could buy her granddaughter a “101 Dalmatians” pants set at Mervyn’s at Glendale Galleria.

“I think it’s insane,” she said, surveying the crowd. “I think people are looking for bargains.”

After several bruising years of adjusting to the consumer austerity that followed the roaring ‘80s, merchants this season are advertising sales and enlisting more Santa Clauses than ever to lure shoppers out of their homes and into the stores.

In Southern California, the Broadway promised shoppers a $10 gift certificate for every $100 spent this weekend and offered to delay payments on purchases until March, interest-free.

At the leviathan Mall of America near Minneapolis, the biggest shopping and entertainment complex in the United States, Santa held court from Snoopy’s dog house with a 40-foot Christmas tree poking through its roof. Meanwhile, 1,300 stuffed Snoopys floated in wreaths across the 4.2-million-square-foot center.

At Mission Viejo Mall, Santa was so mobbed by youngsters when he paraded through the shopping center that musicians leading the way had to stop and wait for the jolly old man to catch up.

Despite the crowds, experts remain cautiously optimistic about the upcoming retail season, which typically accounts for 50% of annual retail sales.

“I think it’s going to be a good season,” said Robert Kahn, publisher of Retailing Today.

Though unemployment remains high in California, Kahn said, a reduction in uncertainty now that so many layoffs have already been announced may contribute to stronger retail sales. He noted that at this time last year, General Motors, Sears and IBM had announced plans for tens of thousands of layoffs, often without specifying where or when. That news, he said, cast a pall over everyone.

“Now, a contract gets cut back, and aerospace contractors lay off 2,500 people, and it’s pretty specific; you know who you are,” Kahn said. People who are not part of the group to be laid off, he said, “have more confidence they’ll be employed in March or April.”

Still, many say they are not buying much because they simply do not have money to spend.

“I sort of curtailed my Christmas gift list, and I’ve set a very strict budget, more strict than last year,” said Allan Thomas, a San Clemente college student shopping Friday at Mission Viejo Mall.

At MainPlace/Santa Ana, Jan Vandervort of La Palma said as she shopped at May Co.: “I have to watch what I buy. I’m looking for the sales.”

No matter where Juan Loredo of Santa Ana goes this year, he said, prices have soared.

“Everything is more expensive. I won’t be able to buy something for everyone in my family this year,” he said, as he pushed his 8-month-old son in a stroller along the mall corridors.

Another Santa Ana shopper, Irma Reyes, said she will not be buying any gifts this year for her four children.

“The economy is bad, I was laid off my job, and everything is bad this year,” she said.

Cheri Bui, a 23-year-old business student at Cal State Northridge, is also looking at a tighter Christmas budget this year. Bui lives with her parents in Canoga Park and works part time as a student assistant at Cal State Northridge. But her school is facing budget constraints, and she is feeling the pinch.

“They cut down my hours of work, and there’s not as much overtime,” she said. So this year, Bui plans to pare her Christmas-present list in half.

Lauren Lott, however, was more optimistic.

The Torrance resident, shopping at the South Bay Pavilion in Carson, said she spent about $400 last year and will probably match that this year.

“I know I should be saving, but the season gets to me,” Lott said, adding with a laugh: “And the stores get my money.”

These Times staff writers and correspondents contributed to this story: Mimi Ko, Tom McQueeney, Chris Kraul, Randal C. Archibold, Mary Guthrie, Andrew LePage, Don Lee, Otto Strong, Renee Tawa, Doug Conner in Seattle, Ann Rovin in Denver, Edith Stanley in Atlanta, George White in Detroit and Chris Wylie in Little Rock.

INCOMES, SPENDING RISE: Incomes were up 1% and spending rose 0.7% in October, the U.S. reported. D1