Good Things in Store
On her first day of serious holiday shopping this year, Connie Berardinelli of Newbury Park brought along much of the family to conquer The Oaks mall.
This was, after all, shaping up to be a bigger-than-usual shopping year for the family, what with out-of-town visitors and new babies.
“If I get away with $2,000, I’ll be happy,” said Berardinelli, accompanied by daughter Laurie and two grandchildren. “But it will probably be more.”
Store owners and mall managers say consumer confidence and an economy that just keeps chugging along will make this holiday season a profitable one, buoyed by shoppers who see little but blue skies ahead. Area retailers such as the Camarillo Premium Outlets, The Oaks and even the struggling Esplanade mall in Oxnard reported strong sales early into the buying season.
On the weekend after Thanksgiving at The Oaks, sales were up 1% from the same period the year before. That’s a victory, mall officials said, considering the reopening of its cross-county rival, the Pacific View Mall in Ventura, the rise of Internet sales and last year’s stunning sales record.
Last weekend, sales were up 2% from the previous year.
“Last year was a huge year, and I don’t know how much we could keep growing,” said Diane Brandes, marketing director at The Oaks.
Traffic was up 8% over last year at the Oxnard Factory Outlets during the Thanksgiving weekend. And marketing executives at the Camarillo outlets and Pacific View Mall said sales have been strong.
If this year weren’t busy, it would be a surprise to analysts. The county is at a near-low unemployment rate of about 4.1%, job growth has climbed steadily year after year, and a sense of labor security has consumers confident they’ll still have a steady paycheck when it comes time to pay off their splurges.
Even a couple of interest rate hikes near the end of the year--which put a momentary damper on consumer enthusiasm--haven’t slowed confidence as the decade closes.
“Last year was the best year ever for retailers, and this year is going to be [better],” said Mark Schniepp, director of the UC Santa Barbara Economic Forecast Project.
Even increased sales over the Internet isn’t very likely to put much of a dent in brick and mortar retailers’ sales, Schniepp said. According to a study by Intuit, the makers of Quicken personal finance software, about 26% of shoppers will use the Internet to shop for gifts, spending an average of $316.
On Thursday, some county shoppers reported they might buy some gifts over the Internet--or more likely window shop--but that they prefer to see an item in person.
Although 80-year-old Grace Stalberg of Ventura wasn’t inclined to hit the Net--she prefers to leave the house for her shopping--she said many of her friends are more than comfortable clicking a mouse to buy.
“I say, ‘What do you know? These old ladies are with it,’ ” Stalberg said.
She and friend Jean Gordon--whom she met in a tap class nearly 20 years ago--decked themselves out in Christmas sweaters and admired the revamped Pacific View Mall, nee Buenaventura.
Jennifer Bradberry of Oxnard and Ralf Cupal of Ventura were out searching for a jacket for Cupal’s mother. Both had already spent more this year than they did during last year’s holiday season but admitted they were waiting for stores to finally open at the Ventura mall.
“We still have to go to The Oaks to get everything,” Bradberry said.
Despite the fact a significant amount of mall space was still covered with banners announcing stores’ impending arrivals, merchants now operating said post-renovation days are good.
“We’re doing way more business than last year,” said Cindee Frazier, assistant manager of See’s Candies at Pacific View. “The dollar figures tell the story.”
Frazier wouldn’t reveal sales numbers from last year, but said they were up 75% this year.
At the Camarillo Premium Outlets, friends Charlotte Humason of Northridge and Barbara Smith of Santa Clarita took a measured approach to shopping--a little here, a little there and plenty of looking.
“When you go to the malls, there’s a lot of spending going on,” Smith said. “Somebody out there sure has a lot of money.”
But leave it to an economist to remind the buying public that hot times can’t last forever.
“The overall attitudes about the economy are probably among the best ever in the history of the world,” Schniepp said. “I may not be able to say the things I’m saying now ever again.”
