Countywide : Enclaves Are Cheap Trip Out of the U.S.

Shopping can be more than finding the best bargain; it can be a cultural experience.

Therein lies the attraction of such ethnic shopping enclaves as Little Saigon in Westminster and 4th Street in downtown Santa Ana.

While Little Saigon caters mostly to Asian Americans and 4th Street to Latinos, more and more shoppers are finding that these places offer not only some of the best buys but also the pleasant surprises of visiting a foreign country.

A shopping trip to Little Saigon is “the cheapest trip to Asia you could ever take,” said Kathy Bucholz, manager of the Asian Gardens Mall in Little Saigon. “And you don’t even have to get on a plane.”

At 4th Street, which has become a shopping mecca for Latinos in Orange County, weekends are often occasions for fiestas and religious festivities planned and coordinated by a downtown merchants group.

In both places, prices are often 10% to 20% below those in traditional malls and shopping centers because of lower overhead. In Little Saigon, for instance, many of the shops are family-owned and don’t have paid employees.

“It’s just me and my (two) sisters,” said Tam Than, 23, whose family owns Nathalie Fashions, one of 158 shops in the Asian Gardens Mall, on Bolsa Avenue in Little Saigon. The store sells leather jackets from Korea, women’s party dresses from China and India and men’s suits from Hong Kong, Than said.

Service at the ethnic stores is personal and friendly, according to shoppers.

“I love the personal touch,” said Laura Roberts of Tustin, who was looking for some gift items Monday with her mother, Eileen, and a friend at a 4th Street store. “I’ve been shopping here for the past five years.”

Mohammed Saleh, a Lebanese who owns Brian’s Fashion on East 4th Street, said he tells his employees, who are Latino, to allow customers to take their time.

“We make them comfortable, and we speak their language,” he said.

Little Saigon and 4th Street stores also provide merchandise in demand by those ethnic groups.

At Guadalajara Jewelers on 4th Street, store manager Salvador Navarro said, one of the most popular pieces is a gold medallion of the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe. On the flip side of the medallion is the image of the Sagrada Corazon, or Sacred Heart.

“Most Latino families have it,” said Navarro, 31, who has been with the jewelry store for 14 years.

Merchants said that neither Little Saigon nor 4th Street has experienced serious crime this year.

“Most of the gang violence is happening in the neighborhoods, not in the shopping areas,” said Roger Kooi, executive director of the Santa Ana Downtown Merchants Assn. He said 4th Street attracts about 3,000 people on weekends.

Tuong Nguyen, executive director of the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, said that about 50,000 people from across Southern California will visit Little Saigon during the Thanksgiving weekend. It is an indication that people feel safe, he said.

Ethnic enclaves will continue to draw shoppers because, for many, particularly immigrants, it’s like coming home.

“You experience the Vietnamese flavor when you shop at Little Saigon,” Nguyen said. “You smell it, you see it in how people walk, in how they dress and how they talk. For a Vietnamese American, that’s powerful.”