The Downpour Doesn’t Dampen Shoppers’ Ardor

So many shoppers were jammed into B. Dalton Bookseller in The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks on Saturday that salesman David Stowater barely had time to contemplate the length of his daylong shift.

“Sometimes it’s overwhelming,” said Stowater, 18. “But when you have an eight-hour shift like this, it will just go by in two minutes.”

Like many of the county’s retail stores, B. Dalton was filled to overflowing with determined holiday shoppers fleeing the pouring rain--and for many, their own guilt at not being as far down their gift-buying list as they would have liked just two weeks before Christmas.

Frank De La Torre, 34, of Lompoc, would fit into that second category.

“Oh, I’m running late, like every year,” said the breathless shopper, pausing for a moment with his daughter, Tatiana, 5, in the Buenaventura Plaza’s center court.

The De La Torres, father and daughter, had spent three hours at the mall by midafternoon but hadn’t made much headway. De La Torre bought a copy of Robert Bly’s “Iron John” for himself and a coloring book for Tatiana. The two were low, however, in the gift department.

“I can’t get it going,” De La Torre sighed. “The weather isn’t helping, either. I need nice weather, more money.”

In contrast to the De La Torres, the Shimasakis, over in The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks, were the epitome of holiday shopping organization. Armed with a 14-person Christmas list that included everyone from grandma to the gardener, Debbie Shimasaki, 41, of Moorpark, and daughter Kimberly, 9, hit the mall at 9 a.m.

“We were going to try and get here at 8 a.m., but it was my day off,” Shimasaki explained.

Remembering last weekend, when all the department stores had run out of shopping bags, the Shimasakis brought their own red-and-green paper sacks. Anticipating rain, they packed plastic bags to cover their purchases when they headed home.

“She’s having fun, because she got a lot of clothes,” said Shimasaki, gesturing to her grinning, enthusiastically nodding daughter. “But my legs are getting tired. We’re trying to get all the shopping done by this weekend.”

Managers at the county’s larger retailers said they saw significant increases in sales this holiday season compared to 1992.

“It’s been much heavier than last year,” said Ed Baird, merchandise manager at J.C. Penney in Ventura. “It’s been wonderful in here.” Baird said he has seen a steady flow of customers in the store--which is good news, because December sales make up a large percentage of the year’s business.

“It’s make it or break it,” Baird said. “And so far it looks like we’re making it.”

In the Thousand Oaks store, located in The Oaks mall, Penney’s sales were even better, Baird said.

Sears, Roebuck & Co. in Thousand Oaks also reported success.

“We always want the numbers to be higher, but from a realistic standpoint we’re very pleased with how things are going,” said Sears manager Gary Endicott. “I think there’s definitely more consumer confidence.”

At the new Wal-Mart store in Oxnard, workers said sales are exceeding all expectations.

“We’ve seen very high volumes over the past couple of weeks,” said assistant manager John Otterbacher. “We see buying improving as we get closer and closer to Christmas.”

Of course, what is good from a retailer’s standpoint isn’t always so great for shoppers. To Kari Norberg, 16, of Newbury Park and Shannon Finney, 16, of Agoura, the crowds filling The Oaks on Saturday afternoon were the bane of their shopping experience.

“I hate a lot of people in the mall,” Shannon complained. “All the people are so eager to get going, they’re in such a rush.”

Pushing back dripping wet hair, Kari added her own gripe. “I hate this parking,” she said, explaining that she and Shannon could only find a space in the back of the mall parking lot, then had to race, bareheaded, through the downpour to the mall entrance.

“Last year, we couldn’t drive, so our moms dropped us off,” she said. “But this stinks.”

Times correspondent Matthew Mosk contributed to this story.