After-Christmas Shoppers Keep Sales Going Strong
After a brief holiday break, exuberant shoppers returned to the malls Sunday, continuing a yearlong spree fueled by a strong economy.
Shoppers found fewer post-Christmas bargains than in past years, in part because holiday sales had been so good. But the lack of discounts didn’t stop consumers armed with gift certificates and Christmas gift money, and ready to turn their attention to items for the biggest New Year’s Eve in a millennium.
“There are markdowns, but the focus of the day really has changed,” said Jeremiah J. Sullivan, who on Feb. 1 takes over as Macy’s West chairman and chief executive. “We’ve all gotten to the point where if we have items that are not selling, we try to clear them before Christmas.”
On Sunday, die-hard shoppers rose early to line up and wait for stores to open, one pair sitting on a mall floor, playing cards. At the Nordstrom Half-Yearly Men’s Sale, crowds of shoppers carried Nordstrom bags reading, “Who says men don’t like to shop?” A young fashion designer prowled through Macy’s flush with Christmas money and another forewent church in favor of the mall. Disappointed teenagers, meanwhile, returned to Old Navy for the items Santa forgot, only to find the items had since sold.
December looks to be better than November’s solid performance, analysts said, and more in line with the rest of 1999’s very strong retail sales.
Michael Niemira, retail analyst with the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in New York, estimated retail sales for the last month of the century will rise 5% to 5.5% over last December.
What’s more, Niemira said, because of the gain of gift certificate sales, the climate is looking good through January. Selling after Christmas is likely to benefit from teenagers spending Christmas money and gift certificate recipients beefing up their gift with money of their own.
“In general, I think it was a good season,” said Stephanie Shern, global vice chairwoman of retail and consumer products for consultant Ernst & Young. “Inventories were in line, which is the good news. The bad news is that inventories were so well in line that when it came to the end of the season, some retailers were out of the things people wanted.”
Some shoppers were girding themselves for a new after-holiday headache, following an e-commerce Christmas that spiked up between $6 billion and $12 billion: lining up at the post office to arrange old-fashioned return shipping for their unwanted e-commerce presents.
A few shoppers returned to the Web this weekend; discounts and specials weren’t as numerous in cyberspace as at the mall.
“We’re still doing business, which is still pretty surprising,” said Ken Seiff, chief executive of Internet discount clothes seller Bluefly.com, who said his company sold more on Dec. 13 and 14 than the site sold during all of 1998’s fourth quarter. “But it is nothing like the rush before Christmas.”
Many real-world retailers plan their day-after-Christmas offerings almost as carefully as their holiday selection. The day ranks as one of the busiest of the year.
“It’s one of the biggest days of the year when we sell denim,” said Sullivan of Macy’s. “Kids get money for Christmas and come in and buy themselves bluejeans.”
Monique Francia, a 21-year-old student at Pasadena City College, had intended to buy only clothes on sale when she first headed to the Macy’s juniors department. But the fashion design student, deprived of her shopping habit for months as she saved for holiday gifts, was persuaded to buy items being sold for full price.
“I can’t help it,” she said, the $200 from her mother, aunt and uncles burning a hole in her pocket. “They’re so cute.”
Many adults, of course, search for savings on gift wrap, ornaments and reindeer-decorated clothing.
Lily Brumm, 37, and her 29-year-old sister, Juleca Oei, sprawled out before dawn on the carpeted floor of the Glendale Galleria, passing the time before the Disney Store’s 8 a.m. opening by playing the card game Speed, an old favorite when they were growing up in Pasadena.
At Mervyn’s, early morning shoppers had already picked through the ornaments and gift wrap when they began ambling about the store. One woman tried to balance two sets of sale-price holiday lights in the crook of one arm while she examined a half-price tin of shortbread cookies. Two women jingled as they walked to a checkout counter, where they plopped down an armful of Christmas bells.
Analysts suggested that Mervyn’s, a Dayton-Hudson Corp. division, has suffered flat sales recently while sister chain Target has soared.
Some shoppers eager to buy found themselves disappointed by lean pickings, as Wall Street lauded the stores for their “clean”--meaning scarce--inventory.
Brentwood resident Lauren Karny and friend Lisa Ward of Sherman Oaks were all set to spend more money at the Bloomingdale’s at Sherman Oaks Fashion Square. But they were disappointed to find that although cashmere turtleneck sweaters were marked down 30%, the color choice was lacking.
And at the West Covina Old Navy, Rosa Astorga’s 9-year-old daughter, Darlene, was disappointed to find the Performance Fleece pullover she saw on TV already picked clean from the shelves.
This holiday’s strongest and weakest performers were familiar, including among the winners Wal-Mart, Target and Federated Department Stores Inc., parent of Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s. JCPenney probably turned in a lackluster performance, said Richard Church, retail analyst for Salomon Smith Barney in New York. Sears, Roebuck & Co. was helped by the strength of tools and appliances, but had lukewarm apparel sales, as did Kmart, Church said.
Earl McMillan, 49, was scouring the West Covina Target store for wrapping paper, bows and large plastic containers to store next year’s Christmas decorations.
“Normally, I’d be at church, but I already told the pastor, ‘don’t expect me today,’ ” McMillan said. “The pickings will be gone if you come any later.”
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Times staff writers Hector Becerra and Ann L. Kim contributed to this story.
