BUY, BYE TIME ELECTION HELPS DISRUPT HOLIDAY; RUSH IS ON WITH 8 DAYS TO GO.Byline: Harrison Sheppard and Jason Kandel Staff Writers The holidays arrived this weekend, and not a moment too soon. The area's malls and tree lots bustled with activity Saturday, the first time this month that gifts and decorations took precedence The order in which an expression is processed. Mathematical precedence is normally: 1. unary + and - signs 2. exponentiation 3. multiplication and division 4. over recounts and courtrooms. Thanks to both a quirk quirk n. 1. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists" Harriet Beecher Stowe. 2. of the calendar and the nation's obsession with the presidential saga, Americans wake up today facing a Christmas only eight days ahead on the calendar. Meanwhile, noble firs The Noble Fir (Abies procera) is a western North American fir, native to the Cascade Range and Coast Range mountains of extreme northwest California and western Oregon and Washington in the United States. still fill Christmas tree Christmas tree Evergreen tree, usually decorated with lights and ornaments, to celebrate the Christmas season. The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands as symbols of eternal life was common among the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. lots, malls are just now seeing sales pick up, and holiday cards still sit in boxes, waiting to be addressed. ``Lots of work to do, and (I'm) not looking forward to going out to the crowds,'' said Mara Burnett as she helped strap a Christmas tree onto her sport utility vehicle at a Santa & Sons Christmas Trees in Granada Hills. ``I'm a procrastinator pro·cras·ti·nate v. pro·cras·ti·nat·ed, pro·cras·ti·nat·ing, pro·cras·ti·nates v.intr. To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness. v.tr. , I guess. I'm going to get it done somehow.'' Two twists of fate conspired against Americans this year. First was the historic - and lengthy - presidential election. Who could shop for holiday baubles while dimpled chads Noun 1. dimpled chad - a chad that has been punched or dimpled but all four corners are still attached dimple, pregnant chad chad - a small piece of paper that is supposed to be removed when a hole is punched in a card or paper tape were being debated? ``It (the election) was in our faces so much, I think we all wanted to see it settled,'' said Paulette Kelmanson, a Bell Canyon resident shopping at The Quilted quilt n. 1. A coverlet or blanket made of two layers of fabric with a layer of cotton, wool, feathers, or down in between, all stitched firmly together, usually in a decorative crisscross design. 2. Bear, a handcrafts and gift store in Northridge on Friday. ``Now Christmas is upon us and we're all looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. sales.'' The second factor that delayed Christmas' arrival was the calendar itself. Christmas falls on a Monday this year, giving Americans an extra weekend of shopping. Thorin Allen and his fiancee got their Christmas tree shopping out of the way first, though, and decided to wait until this weekend to battle the crowds at the Topanga Plaza Mall in Canoga Park. ``We got our tree right away. This is literally our first shopping day. It's that bad,'' said the 30-year-old Agoura man as he, his fiancee, Wendy Nobles, and 13-month-old son, Jacob, were trekking to their car Saturday to dump their first load of presents, and then shop some more. ``We probably have 10 more people to take care of still.'' They dreaded heading back into the crowd. ``People are rude, and nobody's in the holiday spirit,'' Nobles said. Some also believe that Thanksgiving conspired against Christmas this year. Thanksgiving is always on the fourth Thursday of the month, which this year meant the 23rd, the second earliest day it could fall on. That put 31 days between it and Christmas, giving a procrastinating nation plenty of days to ``wait until tomorrow.'' ``When we have those long seasons, it takes longer after Thanksgiving for people to get into the holiday spirit,'' said Mark Rohlfs, owner of Santa & Sons Christmas Trees in Granada Hills. This year, Rohlfs said, he opened his lot at Balboa Balboa, town (1990 pop. 2,751), Colón prov., in the former Panama Canal Zone, on the Gulf of Panama. The port for Panama City, Balboa was the administrative headquarters of the Panama Canal Zone. It was also the site of a U.S. navy base (closed 1999). Boulevard and Rinaldi Street on Nov. 30, about a week later than normal because of the unusual weather and calendar. While the season started slowly, the past week has been brisk and he expects this weekend to be frantic. On Friday, Rohlfs had about 1,000 trees, grown on his own farm in Oregon, on his lot but he was afraid he would run out before Christmas. It doesn't look like a happy ending at eToys, the Santa Monica-based Internet retailer, which cited the presidential election as one reason behind its weaker-than-expected earnings. On Friday, the company said net sales Net Sales The amount a seller receives from the buyer after costs associated with the sale are deducted. Notes: This amount is calculated by subtracting the following items from gross sales: merchandise returned for credit, allowances for damaged or missing goods, freight are expected to be between $120 million and $130 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, rather than the $210 million to $240 million estimate of Oct. 30. In a statement, the company attributed its revenue shortfall ``to a harsh retail climate driven by concerns over the economy, the current disfavor of Internet retailing, and a consumer population meaningfully distracted by the presidential election and its aftermath.'' Jack Kyser, chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the of the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Economic Development Corp., said while the economy here remains strong, consumer buying seems to be weakening slightly. Another reason for the delay is a sort of resistance to the lengthening lengthening (lengkˑ·the·ning), n the use of various massage or muscle energy techniques to relax and stretch muscle and connective tissue. of the Christmas season, which now seems to begin just after Halloween, Kyser said. Also, because Christmas falls on a Monday, consumers know they have a full weekend of shopping for last-minute items. Last year, Los Angeles County had $17.6 billion in taxable retail sales in the fourth quarter, an increase of 12.1 percent over the prior year. That will be a tough number to beat, Kyser said, but it is possible. ``Consumers had been on a wild buying spree, and they've run up some debt,'' Kyser said. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Sophie Gavrilas of Granada Hills gets some help in her search for the perfect Christmas tree Saturday at the Santa and Sons Christmas tree lot in Granada Hills. (2 -- 3) Mara Burnett ties a Christmas tree to the roof of her auto Saturday at the Santa and Sons Christmas tree lot in Granada Hills. Above, a stroller doubles as a shopping cart Saturday for the purchases of Thorin Allen, right, Wendy Nobles and son Jacob. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer |
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