Let the Holiday Buying Frenzy Begin

For eight frantic hours Friday, it was the Perez clan of Anaheim against the rest of the shopping world.

At 3 a.m., oldest brother Mike Perez, 36, arrived at Wal-Mart in Anaheim Plaza, only to find another shopper beat him to the head of the line--by a good hour. Perez’s siblings and relatives soon followed, a dozen of them in all.

When doors opened at 6, some 800 people (by one security guard’s count) stampeded into the store, anxious to get their hands on 19-inch television sets for a special price of $89.99. The Perez family fanned out as younger sister Claudia Perez directed the troops with her cell phone.

When the family’s big white van pulled up to the curb for pickup, here’s what they loaded: 16 television sets, 10 DVD players, two VCRs and an assortment of Lego toys. Most of them were gifts for family and friends, they said.

“It’s a madhouse,” said Claudia Perez, before racing off to Target and Kmart.

For many families, post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping has become a predawn rite. And with retailers more than happy to oblige with huge discounts, the consumer battle in the wee hours seems to heat up every year.

Friday’s early risers clearly had their sights set on bargains.

By 7:45 a.m., Kathy Miller had dropped $108 at Kay-Bee Toy and $54 at Target Greatland stores near her Costa Mesa home.

Along with her 12-year-old daughter, Kirsten, Miller shopped the Costa Mesa toy store shortly after 5 a.m. and then drove to the nearby Target Greatland for the 7 a.m. opening. Among Miller’s finds: a GI Joe action figure at Kay-Bee Toy that was marked down from $27.99 to $7.99.

Like other shoppers who’ve gone through the day-after drill in years past, Miller came in with a battle plan. She prepared for her shopping trip with Thanksgiving Day telephone calls placed to her mother and sister in south Orange County. “We all read the newspaper ads and compare notes to see if we’ve missed anything,” Miller said.

Sisters Rosa, Alex and Adriana Ortiz were the first in line at Toys R Us in Burbank--they waited three hours before the store opened at 6 a.m. Clad in sweats and tennis shoes, each had her own shopping cart and a cup of coffee.

As soon as the doors opened, the three sisters charged to the back of the store, where the sale items were placed, and headed first for the Pacific Cycle bike, Barbie dolls and scooters. “Now that you have the economy that isn’t doing so great, you have to go for the best sales,” said Alex Ortiz, a health teacher in Slymar. “Even if that means getting up at 2 a.m. to save a penny.”

They saved more than that. Each spent about $200, about $100 less than they anticipated.

Savings or not, there were more than a few shoppers who found the early-morning shopathon a little silly.

“I’m probably saving all of $6, so I don’t know why I’m here this early,” said Costa Mesa resident Bob Hallock, one of many shoppers who assembled before sunrise outside Fry’s Electronics store in Fountain Valley. Hallock was looking for a color television set advertised for $97.

Stacey Zill, 32, also had second thoughts about what she was willing to sacrifice to save money Friday morning. The Sherman Oaks resident rose at 5:30 a.m. and dressed in the dark so that she could get first crack at several hot toy items, including an electronic interactive dog, at the Kay-Bee Toy store on Riverside Drive, near her house.

By the time she got there at close to 6 a.m., about an hour after the store opened, “there was a huge line waiting to get in. I’d say 150 people were waiting.”

“I was looking at at least an hour to get into the store,” she said. “Sometimes a bargain isn’t a bargain in terms of the time it takes to get it.”

Zill turned around and went back home, straight to bed.

Times staff writers Greg Johnson, Hang Nguyen and Karen Robinson-Jacobs also contributed to this report.

* O.C. RETAILERS HOPEFUL

Big shopping crowds eased merchants’ fears of consumer caution over political and economic uncertainties. A1