Early Bird Shoppers Flock to Stores to Buy Now and Play Later

With cunning logistics that would do a four-star general proud, Cindy Day snatched the odd moment from cooking the family turkey on Thanksgiving to plan a predawn attack on the malls and marts of Ventura County.

“Going shopping before the sun comes up on the day after Thanksgiving” has become a family tradition, Day said Friday as she waited in line to enter a Ventura toy store.

The day after Thanksgiving is not only lucrative for merchants, it has turned into the longest shopping day of the year for extra-eager buyers. On Friday, from one end of the county to the other, those who wanted to get the drop on Santa Claus were out before the sun rose. Others planned to make a full day of it.

“We plan this every Thanksgiving,” Day said as she and her sister-in-law, Heather Pierce of Bakersfield, waited in line to take their turn inside the Kay-Bee toy store in the Buenaventura Mall at 8:22 a.m. Friday.

Day held up a handwritten numbered list. The first four items--a 6 a.m. start at K mart for pajamas, a 7 a.m. visit to Target for a watch, a 7:15 a.m. swoop into Mervyn’s for slippers and a 7:30 a.m. stop at Montgomery Ward for a jacket--had checkmarks by them.

After the stop at Kay-Bee for Barbie clothes, they planned to eat breakfast, then hit three more stores before calling it a morning.

“We worked from the ads on Thursday,” Day said. “We planned out what store opened when and where they were. You have to run straight to exactly what you want in each store before they run out.

“Yesterday, just before we ate dinner, we went to K mart and scoped out where everything was. We barely got back in time to eat--our families weren’t real thrilled,” Day said.

Earlier, in the predawn chill, they had stood in a line the length of a football field outside Oxnard’s Target department store, waiting along with some 500 other shoppers for its 7 a.m. opening.

“Gotta get a stereo for my son, Matt,” said Martha Buenrostro, who had driven in from Santa Paula. “I would have been here at 5 a.m. if they’d opened then.”

At 7 a.m. sharp, the store’s doors were flung open and the rush was on.

Oxnard resident Debbie Mosqueda already had paid a visit to the local Wal-Mart.

“They opened at 6 and at 6:10 they were out of Legos,” she said. “I came here to see if Target has any. If you think this is a zoo, you should have been at Toys R Us at 6. Gotta go. The line’s moving.”

In Target’s toy department, controlled chaos ruled. People filled carts with not just one, but four and five Flower Fun Barbies, Hot Wheels car sets and Water Babies--dolls that can be filled with warm water and cuddled like hot water bottles.

Laura Kuhn of Camarillo was one of the early arrivals, and by 7:45 a.m., her cart held five Barbies.

“I’m on my way to work,” Kuhn said. “I’ve been to K mart, Wal-Mart and Michaels already this morning. Lots of sales, lots of children to buy for.”

The stockroom’s swinging doors opened, and clerk Gene Garcia began handing out Water Babies so quickly that he ended up tossing them.

Cathy Hamilton of Oxnard picked up half a dozen Beanie Baby knockoffs. “Some of these are for Toys for Tots,” she said.

At the checkout stand, Lisa Ray of Port Hueneme rested her elbows somewhat wearily on her overflowing shopping cart’s handle.

“I’ve probably got $250 worth right here,” she said. “I’ve got two kids, nieces and nephews, and I’m shopping for a couple of friends, too. I was up at 4:30--didn’t make it to K mart until 5:30.

“But I’m almost done. Then I can relax and do things like bake, decorate the house and socialize for the rest of the month.”

Raquel Zavala, personnel manager at Moorpark’s K mart store, said shoppers have been showing up in force all day.

“We’ve been open since 6 a.m. and business has built ever since,” Zavala said at midafternoon Friday. “It’s more shoppers than last year.”

Like the Oxnard Target store, scores flocked to the mega-store in Simi Valley to take advantage of sale prices.

“I used to be one of those last-minute shoppers and it was always such a headache,” said 41-year-old Valerie Bardach, who had a shopping cart brimming with toys, garland and gift-wrapping. “But now I try to take care of most of my shopping right after Thanksgiving. . . . It’s a good way to work off all that stuffing.”

The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks epitomized both the triumphs and travails of the post-holiday shopping rush.

A steady stream of cars orbited the mall waiting for a prime parking space to open, while endless lines of people filed in and out of the mall’s dozen or so entrances.

“The mall’s over that way, kind of behind that hill,” said one shopper as he climbed into his car at one of the center’s distant lots. “It’s only about a five-minute walk.”

Inside, an army of fast-walking, head-bobbing, holiday-enthused bargain hunters began the work of finding that special something.

At least most did.

“It’s a total zoo in here,” said an exasperated Stewart Milenski as he sat in the women’s shoe department at Macy’s. “My girlfriend is really into this, but I’d almost rather be working.”

Employees at some of the mall’s largest retailers had to work double-time just to keep up with the deluge of cost-conscious shoppers.

“Every time I walk by this, it’s like a tornado hit it,” said clerk Kim Michalek, pointing to a table piled high with shirts at a 40% discount. “I’ve done a lot of folding today.”

The same story was repeated at the Camarillo outlet mall, where thousands of sale-intoxicated shoppers made their way through inventories of shoes, socks, jeans and blouses.

“This is the place to be,” said Jeannie Barlow, who made the 40-minute drive from Santa Barbara with her husband, Mitch, to take advantage of the discounted discount merchandise. “You can pretty much take care of all your shopping in one day. . . . That’s why I come.”

For clerks who worked Friday, assisting customers in their search for holiday gifts and trimmings, the frenzied scene was just a prelude to the coming weeks.

“Being busy never hurt anybody,” said David Schroeder, on a break from his job at an Oaks mall clothing retailer. “Sometimes it gets hard, but after Christmas you kind of wonder whatever happened to the month.”

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