HOLIDAY SPIRITS: Santa may like milk and...
HOLIDAY SPIRITS: Santa may like milk and cookies, but Mom and Dad prefer a bottle of Cabernet. Wine and liquor sales soar during the holidays. Paul Smith, owner of Northridge Hills Liquor and Wine Warehouse, expects sales of $100,000 the week before Christmas--more than the store typically sells in a month. “When they back up the Mercedes,” Smith said, “that’s a good sign.”
GHOST OF BASEBALL PAST: Baseball card shops give this year’s Scrooge award to Major League Baseball owners and players. Card sales were flying this summer. But when the players struck in August, “it shut sales down to a crawl,” said Michael Harris, co-owner of the Baseball Card Co. in Granada Hills. Christmas usually boosts card sales by 25%, but since the strike sales have slumped 20%.
STOCKING STUFFERS: Put off your shopping until the last minute? Ogner Motorcars in Woodland Hills will deliver a ribbon-wrapped Ferrari 456 on Christmas morning for $207,000. Ogner typically sells two or three Ferraris a month, but sold five last month as the holidays approached. General manager Robert Reilly (above) said he can be paged any time, even on Christmas Eve.
SALES POWER: Amid karate shrieks of “ hiya! “ the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have seized the toy sales crown. The hyperkinetic Rangers are the super-hero stars of a children’s TV show produced by Saban Entertainment of Burbank. Saban, which licenses Rangers merchandising, won’t disclose its royalties, but said at least 1,000 Rangers products, and more than $1 billion in merchandise, have been produced this year.
NOT TOYS R US: Christmas is the busiest time of year for most retailers, but not Salvation Army thrift stores. November and December are lean, said Maj. Don Mowery of the Salvation Army’s Los Angeles office. “There’s still an aversion to giving something used as a gift.” Their Canoga Park thrift store expects to sell about $50,000 worth of donated items this month, compared to $70,000 in October.
