Shoppers Jam Stores Looking for Bargains
Consumers flocked to malls and shopping centers in Southern California and nationwide Thursday, lured by post-Christmas bargains offered by retailers trying to make up for disappointing holiday sales.
But while shoppers found steep price cuts, the selection of marked-off merchandise was limited. Retailers, burned last Christmas by shelves of unsold goods, kept a tight rein on inventory this year.
Although official sales tallies aren’t yet available, local retailers were encouraged by Thursday’s turnout.
“I haven’t seen anyone without a shopping bag,” said Doug Roscoe, general manager of the Century City Shopping Center, whose parking lot was full by 2:30 p.m. “We thought we would have a strong day. This day has become our biggest day--more important than the day after Thanksgiving.”
Marc and Rada Ballon of Los Angeles said they planned to take full advantage of the sales.
“We’ll spend until we run out of checks,” said Marc Ballon, who had just bought a television set from a Good Guys store in West Los Angeles.
Local retailers are hoping for more shoppers like the Ballons to help them achieve a modest increase of 4% over last year’s holiday sales--which had been the worst in years.
Although holiday buying began with a bang right after Thanksgiving, that momentum wasn’t sustained, thanks in part to high consumer debt loads and five fewer Christmas shopping days this year. In light of the early surge in sales, analysts had predicted retailers nationwide would post an 8% to 10% increase in holiday sales compared to levels of a year ago.
Their revised expectation of a 4% to 5% increase is still considered good economic news for Southern California, which is struggling out of a years-long retail recession. Last year, for example, Southland retail sales were up a slight 2% to 3% over the previous year.
The holiday season is crucial for retailers. Some merchants generate 25% to 30% of their annual revenue during the period. And the after-Christmas sales have become increasingly important in recent years as more value-savvy consumers--as well as those seeking refunds and exchanges--troll the malls between Dec. 25 and Jan. 1.
“It doesn’t pay to buy it before Christmas, if you can get 50% off,” said Melissa Williams, who braved temperatures of 22 below to get to a Target discount store in Bismarck, N.D., a little after 7 a.m.
While some consumers returned unwanted gifts Thursday, many sought out deals on things they didn’t get for Christmas.
From the mega-malls in America’s heartland to the ritzy shops lining Madison Avenue to Southland shopping centers, they found a bonanza of bargains. Along Manhattan’s major shopping districts, nearly every store displayed sale signs: 20% to 70% off at Macy’s; 10% to 60% off at Nobody Beats the Wiz electronics stores; 20% to 65% off at Bloomingdale’s.
In Southern California, Macy’s, Robinsons-May, Sears and J.C. Penney were offering price cuts of about 50% on Thursday.
Penney spokesman Duncan Muir said the retailer had expected a holiday season sales increase in the “high single digits,” but the company now expects a lower increase, despite the deep discounting.
“For most of the nation, this is a ho-hum Christmas and nothing to write home about,” said Kurt Barnard, a New Jersey-based retail economist. “The upscale retail chains did well because they serve people who have benefited from the stock market boom. However, retailers who were expecting big sales increases across the board did not consider the high levels of consumer debt.”
Credit-card debt, for example, is now $464 billion--more than three times the level of 10 years ago, Barnard said. On the other hand, the national savings rate has doubled over the last two years as more Americans invest in mutual funds, he said.
In addition, consumers are spending more money on things like vacations and home remodeling, which is shifting crucial business away from retailers.
“We are seeing a shift in consumer behavior and they are spending in different ways than they used to,” said Carl Steidtmann, chief economist at Management Horizons, a consultancy in Columbus, Ohio.
Most Americans have little left for big-ticket purchases--and that is reflected in holiday sales trends this year.
Apparel sales, for example, which were weak most of this decade, rebounded this year as shoppers were attracted to affordable clothing prices and the promise of price-cutting.
Toy makers did well during the holidays, thanks to the unexpected hit Tickle Me Elmo doll as well as strong sales of the Nintendo 64 video game system and action figures based on the “Space Jam” and “101 Dalmatians” movies.
In contrast, expensive items such as large appliances, furniture and electronics lagged this holiday season. Consumer electronics giants such as Best Buy and the Good Guys responded by offering storewide clearance sales on Thursday.
Some spending reflected the growing interest in products with lasting value. For example, jewelry sales are up nationwide and locally.
Fred Meyer Jewelry at Westminster Mall expects “to do well all the way till the first of the year,” said store manager Kevin Anderson.
Interest in upscale merchandise has been a boon to Bloomingdale’s, which opened its first three Southland stores in November.
Bloomingdale’s holiday season sales nationwide will increase 4% to 6%, but the business at its Southland stores is expected to exceed the chain’s average, said Michael Lindblad, regional vice president of the chain.
Bloomingdale’s joined the price-cutters Thursday, offering 20% to 50% discounts at its stores in Century City, Sherman Oaks and Newport Beach. The markdowns were effective, Lindblad said.
“I’m very pleased,” he said. “The amount of merchandise returned is lower than anticipated and sales have been tremendous.”
Macy’s is also among the retailers vying for holiday season sales in Southern California for the first time. The company moved into stores formerly operated by the Broadway and Bullock’s chains earlier this year.
“We had a lot of traffic in our stores Thursday,” said Merle Goldstone, a Macy’s spokeswoman. “Our sales numbers look promising. The day will be a big plus.”
The price-cutting created a genuine rush at some locations. In the San Fernando Valley, shoppers outside Macy’s Holiday Lane--a temporary Christmas decoration store at the Northridge Fashion Center--crammed the mall’s second floor before 8 a.m. Thursday for the store’s 50%-off sale. Security was repeatedly called by store management to control a line that grew throughout the morning.
“My wife is somewhere in there,” said Bob Finkelstein, an insurance brokerage consultant from Northridge. “I just hope she survives.
Shoppers said it was a half-hour wait to enter the store. Those inside said the checkout line that wound from the store’s front to rear was a tiring but worthwhile hourlong wait, even with seven clerks on duty.
“My two daughters are in there,” said Martha Maddox, 55, a psychotherapist from Granada Hills. “I came for a little reindeer, and I can see they got it. . . . I didn’t send my credit card in, so I had to pass it through.”
For others, strategy was a key to finding desired items during the crunch.
“What we did was Tuesday we came in and scouted it all out,” said Betty Kelley, 69, of Sylmar. “We even put some of the things we wanted in the corners.”
Kelley and a friend toted more than $200 worth of decorations they bought at Macy’s.
Times staff writers and correspondents Greg Johnson and Lesley Wright in Orange County, Thomas Schultz in the San Fernando Valley and Peter Noah in Los Angeles contributed to this story. Times wire services also contributed.
