Shoppers Trickle Back to Galleria : Glendale: Merchants agree that bomb hoax caused many to stay away Thursday at the height of the holiday rush.

Holiday shoppers began trickling back to the Glendale Galleria on Thursday, the day after a bomb scare forced the evacuation of more than 50,000 people and cost mall merchants an estimated tens of thousands of dollars in lost sales.

Despite the dramatic evacuation--and subsequent recovery by police of three fake “bombs”--the mall opened on time Thursday, with the first 2,000 customers receiving $5 gift certificates for mall merchandise and tickets for free coffee.

But even with the goodwill efforts, mall merchants agreed that the hoax--which came 11 days before Christmas--caused many shoppers to stay away at the height of the holiday rush.

“Usually our sales are in the thousands of dollars by lunchtime on a Thursday and today we’re only in the hundreds,” said Michelle Turscak, manager of the Christopher Ranch, a specialty food store that sells luxury gifts such as garlic dipped in 18-carat gold.

Turscak’s shop is one of the 264 specialty stores and restaurants--as well as five department stores--housed in the mall.

Meanwhile, police continued their investigation and expressed worry that the Galleria hoax--which followed a bomb scare earlier this month at a South Bay mall--may trigger a rash of copycat pranks.

“This is a new occurrence,” said Lt. Bill Christiansen of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s arson explosives detail. “Because of the notoriety, . . . it may prompt other people to try pulling a similar stunt.”

The bomb scare began Wednesday afternoon when a mall customer spotted a suspicious package in a restroom trash can. About the same time, the Glendale Police Department received an anonymous phone call warning that there was a bomb in the mall.

Police searched the 1.3-million-square-foot shopping center and found two more elaborately wrapped packages in separate men’s bathrooms. All three packages, which were each labeled “bomb,” turned out to be five-pound sacks of flour.

Police accompanied by mall merchants searched Wednesday night for a possible fourth package, which was never found.

Glendale police spokesman Chahe Kheuregholian said his department has so far received hundreds of telephone calls with tips on possible suspects.

If caught, Kheuregholian said, the culprit faces felony charges.

Glendale Police Agent Rod Brooks said a computer analysis was being performed on the male voice taped in the anonymous 911 phone call received by police. Investigators also checked for fingerprints at the pay phone at Broadway and Pacific Avenue, where the call was placed.

Sheriff’s Department bomb squad officials said the packages at the Galleria are not the work of the person who left a fake bomb inside a restroom at the South Bay Pavilion in Carson earlier this month.

*

The shoppers who returned to the Galleria on Thursday say there was one small benefit to the trouble.

“It’s a lot less crowded than I expected. Usually at lunch, I can never find a space, but I didn’t have any problems today,” Glendale resident Sheryl Carlin said.

David Manders, a forklift driver at Price Club, said he did not hesitate to follow through on a promise to bring his 3-year-old godson, Anthony, and his 4-month-old niece, Olivia, to see Santa Claus.

“We thought we would come anyway,” Manders said. “I wasn’t worried, and the kids certainly don’t know the difference.”

*

Julie Tamaki is a Times staff writer and Jennifer Oldham is a correspondent.