HOLIDAY CASH REGISTERS ARE A-JINGLIN'; SALES AT LOCAL MALLS ARE BRISK AS CHRISTMAS DAY NEARS.

Byline: Suzie St. John Staff Writer

Northridge Fashion Center officials don't need a long-winded sales report to tell them sales are substantially up this holiday season.

They just asked Santa.

Photo sales at the mall's Santa station are up 23 percent over last year, a double-digit surge in business that is being duplicated at shopping malls across the region.

As predicted, Saturday was the highest selling day of the holiday season. But with only two shopping days left until Christmas, retailers said Wednesday that the best is yet to come.

``Our stores are really pulling in a lot of sales. It's going to continue to increase and we think (today) and Friday will be the busiest days,'' said Shana Yao, marketing director for the Sherman Oaks Fashion Square.

Those expectations are being shared by other area malls.

``The week leading up to Christmas is when the mania takes place. The significant increase in traffic translates into higher sales,'' said Northridge Fashion Center's marketing director Joey Char. ``It's kind of hard not to do well when the economy is doing so good.''

Sales data released this week by TeleCheck Services Inc., the world's leading check processing company, shows that Los Angeles-area shoppers are proving to be last-minute buyers. There was a sales gain of only 3.3 percent during the first 17 shopping days of the season, but that sales gain jumped to 5.2 percent by adding the last seven days. Nationally, there was an increase of 5.8 percent in the first 24 shopping days.

``Saturday, Dec. 18, was the busiest day so far of the season and typically that's what it's been, but we could end up with an even bigger day,'' said TeleCheck spokeswoman Marjorie Fowler. ``There's always a segment of the population who are waiting 'til the last minute to shop.''

Last year, three of the biggest shopping days were in the week before Christmas.

Yao speculated that the unseasonably warm temperatures have also had an impact on shopping and spending.

``It's hard to think of Christmas shopping when it's so hot outside. I remember that last year at this time, it was really cold,'' Yao said.

With Christmas falling on Saturday this year, Yao believes many people may be waiting to shop until Friday because they have the day off. In anticipation of this, most local shopping malls will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga reported overwhelmingly high sales starting with last Saturday.

``It's really encouraging to see sales so strong the week before Christmas. Our retailers said they are selling a lot and they're still waiting for last-minute shoppers,'' marketing director Janine Baker said. ``It's just really nice to see the center so full and that people are buying.''

Specialty retailers are likewise reporting a strong holiday season.

In its first year of operation, the Quilted Bear in Northridge has had high traffic and sales.

``This is our first yea,r so we don't have anything to compare it to, but we're meeting all of our expectations,'' said Eliana Rosinksi, co-owner of the store, which specializes in hand-crafted items.

Online sales are also exceeding holiday sales expectations. Online market research firm Bizrate.com found an increase of 329 percent for the number of orders being placed to Web merchants between Nov. 28 and Dec. 20. Of course, online sales still represent only a minor fraction of all retail sales.

Cybershopping started earlier than in-store buying, but peaked early last week with shoppers fearing their online purchases would not arrive in time for Christmas.

TeleCheck senior economic adviser William Ford said retailers should have a very merry Christmas given the brisk pace of retail spending, past shopping patterns and the extra shopping day.