BEATING THE CROWDS; SHOPPERS BATTLING THE CLOCK.

Byline: Suzie St. John Staff Writer

Shopping the Saturday before Christmas is a big no-no in Tricia Latham's book.

``What bothers me the most is all of the people picking and choosing through everything. Why do we have to make it so difficult? I just want them to get out of my way,'' the Simi Valley resident said with a laugh.

Unfortunately for Latham, no one is going away.

But for Latham and the hundreds of thousands like her who still need to buy gifts, retail experts say last-minute shoppers can still get exactly what they want without having to wade through large crowds and long lines if they just practice a little time management. Midday shopping is out; midnight shopping is in.

``No one is going to get punished for waiting to do their shopping until the last minute,'' said Janine Baker, Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga's marketing director. ``Our retailers have been planning for it, so they are sufficiently stocked and not running out of merchandise.''

Saturday marks the start of the busiest shopping week of the year, when the nation's looky-loos finally buy the Christmas presents they've procrastinated on for the past month.

In anticipation of this final, crushing week, local malls and stores are offering extended hours and special services like valet parking to ease the shopping congestion.

Baker said the best way to avoid crowds is to shop before breakfast or after dinner.

``People are kind of programmed to shop from 10 to 7, so the best time to come is early morning or later in the evening,'' she said. ``By having extended holiday hours, you can go home, make dinner, put the kids to bed and then shop from 8 to 10.''

The majority of area malls and big-box stores are opening one to two hours earlier and staying open till 11 p.m. or, in some cases, midnight.

For weekday shoppers, Baker suggested skipping lunch and shopping instead.

``People are eating during the lunch hour and not as many are shopping, so the middle of the day is a good time to come,'' Baker said.

Sherman Oaks Fashion Square marketing director Shana Yao suggested taking that one step further.

``During the week, we are busier after work, so people should just take the day off and come shopping instead,'' said Yao with a laugh.

She said that those determined to shop on Saturday should come later in the day.

``I don't know if it's the same at other malls, but for us people usually don't get here till 10 or 11 and they shop till 4 or 5. So later in the afternoon is better,'' Yao explained.

Traditionally, the Saturday before Christmas is the busiest sales day for retailers across the nation. The day after Thanksgiving is normally thought of as the busiest, but experts say that the last Friday in November attracts more browsers than buyers.

And while people have an extra five days to delay their shopping since Christmas falls on a Saturday this year, experts are predicting that this Saturday will still be the biggest shopping day of the year.

``Even though Christmas falls on a Saturday this year, the Saturday before will still probably be the biggest day, followed by at least two more big days during the week,'' said Marjorie Fowler, spokeswoman for TeleCheck Services Inc., the world's leading check acceptance company.

She said that three of the four biggest shopping days last year were all in the week before Christmas. The Saturday before was tops; Tuesday, Dec. 22, was the second busiest.

``Consumers have a tendency to wait till the end because of special sales,'' Fowler said.

Bonnie Schwartz counts herself as a last-minute buyer. She said she spends a lot of time looking and pricing before actually buying.

``The idea of mobs of people being at the mall doesn't bother me,'' said Schwartz. ``I just bought my first presents, so I'll be out there Saturday night after work and again on Sunday.''

In addition to extending their hours, area malls are preparing for the onslaught of shoppers in other ways.

``For our mall, typically (Saturday) is the busiest day of the year, so we are expecting it to be huge,'' said Glendale Galleria marketing director Annette Bethers. ``We've taken steps to help our shoppers and make it a little less stressful for them.''

She said the Galleria will have full-time attendants in the parking structures to help customers find spots. An additional valet parking location has also been added. Shoppers can leave their cars at both the Nordstrom entrance and on Galleria Way.

The Galleria will also offer shuttle service from the Los Angeles Zoo parking lot. The shuttles run every 15 minutes during the same hours the mall is open.

``Historically (the week before Christmas) has been very heavy for us, so this should help immensely,'' Bethers said. ``It's been a great season so far. We've seen our sales steadily increase throughout the month.''

Yao said sales at Fashion Square have been holding strong in the first part of December and mall retailers are expecting a big push in the final pre-Christmas shopping days.

The same holds true for Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga. Baker said the mall has been generating considerable sales throughout the year, but has high expectations for Saturday sales.

``We have been trending up all year. Our comparable sales are up 3 to 5 percent from last year, so our retailers are very happy,'' Baker said.

Shoppers helper

Don't want to shop when everyone else is? Other than giving out rain checks and shopping in late January, there are a few things you could do to avoid the crush during the next week:

Don't shop Saturday.

OK, if you've got shop Saturday, go either before 10 a.m. or after 7 p.m. If you shop between 10 and 7, you are part of the mob.

Shop on Sunday. Last year, Sunday was the least-crowded shopping day of the week.

If you're shopping during the week, go early or late in the day. If possible, go after dinner.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo: Cecilia Schumacher and her husband, Joe, stand in line at See's Candies at the Topanga Plaza Mall.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

Box: Shoppers helper (see text)