Early Birds Get Bargains as Gift Season Begins

Ventura County shoppers turned out in droves Friday to hunt for bargains on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Seemingly unfazed by the nation’s flagging economy, they arrived at discount stores and outlet malls well before sunrise, armed with checkbooks and credit cards.

Peggy Hosaki-Chavez was one of them.

In about 20 minutes at Walmart in Oxnard, the 45-year-old Salinas woman filled two shopping carts with gifts and a computer while coordinating her efforts with family members via a cell phone.

“I’m not [cutting] back as much as I’m being a little bit more selective,” she said of her spending this year.

With retail sales fluctuating since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, economists say the post-Thanksgiving day rush will be a key indicator of consumer confidence as retailers enter the crucial holiday shopping season.

Holiday purchases typically account for 25% of a retailer’s annual sales.

“This will be the day that will let us know what is going on,” said Bill Watkins, director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project. Nationwide, purchases are likely to be down for the holiday season, he said.

However, that may not be the case for Ventura County, which has been insulated from sharp downturns in the airline and travel industries.

Home sales in Ventura County remain high. Unemployment was at 4.8% last month. And while jobs dipped in the construction, restaurant and retail sectors, there was still a net gain in employment overall.

That could mean consumers will feel safer spending money this holiday season, Watkins said.

“The Ventura County economy is just doing so much better than the national economy,” he said.

Still, economists predict that shoppers in Ventura County and elsewhere will flock to discount stores and outlet malls in search of lower prices.

And judging by the long lines outside some discount stores Friday, the experts may be right.

Walmart co-manager Jeni Amero estimated that nearly 1,000 people were lined up outside the Rose Avenue store before it opened Friday.

“I don’t think people are spending as much on higher-end items,” she said. “But they are coming to our stores.”

Oxnard resident Anita Corpus, 57, waited in line for two hours before Walmart opened its doors at 6 a.m.

Then she darted inside, only to emerge five minutes later with a basketball backboard for her twin 10-year-old grandsons.

Then, after loading the giant box into her car, she went back into the jam-packed store, where shoppers were grabbing $75 DVD players and $5 toasters.

In Camarillo, shoppers hit the outlet mall at 6 a.m. to take advantage of early-bird specials and reduced prices on already-discounted designer clothing.

“I feel like right now is probably the best time,” Los Angeles resident Kenson Quan, 34, said as he loaded several large shopping bags into a minivan.

Quan, a self-described bargain shopper, said he was not scaling back spending this holiday season but was limiting his shopping to less-expensive outlet stores.

“If you are going to spend,” he said, “it’s better than going to the mall.”

Mall retailers were not complaining for lack of traffic, however.

In Thousand Oaks, The Oaks general manager Becky Bresson said earlier this week that sales at the shopping center were about 2% ahead of last year’s November pace after being down following the Sept. 11 attacks.

“We’re hoping that the holiday season will be along the line of what you would normally expect to see,” Bresson said.

Paul Latourell is also optimistic.

In November and December, he rents space at the mall to showcase an eclectic collection of handcrafted Indonesian furniture and gifts.

“I kind of think people will put off buying the big stuff, a new Lexus or ski trip,” he said, “and might stay home and have a giftier Christmas.”

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Staff writer Daryl Kelley contributed to this story.