HOLIDAY SEASON TO BEGIN LOCAL RETAILERS SCRAMBLE FOR OFFICIAL OPENING THIS FRIDAY.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

NORTHRIDGE - While most workers spent Wednesday afternoon cruising along, leisurely heading for a relaxing holiday weekend, Susan Jenkins threw herself into her job without looking back.

As manager of the Hawaiian jewelry shop Na Hoku in the Northridge Fashion Center, she and her crew had the monumental task of prepping the store for the holiday season that kicks off Friday morning. With all employees on the ball, they worked diligently Wednesday in anticipation of a deluge of shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving.

``We're fully staffed, and we're raring to go,'' she said, her voice pleasant but at an accelerated tempo. ``We're running about 1,000 miles a minute already just to get ready. We'll be here at 6:30 a.m. on Friday and we'll have that gate up by 7 to start selling.''

But by Joe Kosta's standards that means she'll be sleeping in. As group sales manager of women's and men's shoes at Macy's Sherman Oaks store, Kosta will hit the stock room Friday at 4 a.m. His associates will join him soon after, in preparation to throwing open the doors at 7 a.m., and by early afternoon a full staff of 50 will be patrolling the sales floor.

``We have a standard procedure,'' he laughed. ``We order a 50-gallon drum of coffee, then 50 IV-plugs - so they're just trailing around with the plugs ready to go. Actually, we just get them the coffee and let them go from there.''

In his many years in the sales business, he's seen crowds of as many as 60 shoppers congregate outside the door, waiting to enter for the bargains within. Although Friday will be long day - Kosta's crew will work until 11:30 p.m. - they wouldn't have it any other way.

``We're salespeople - it's exciting to have all the people in the store, with cash registers ringing and the sales going,'' he said. ``We get depressed if there's no one coming in and, as commissioned sales associates, we definitely like to have people shopping.''

It's been a tough year for retail. Experts are predicting that those preparations Jenkins and Kosta have been making will be much needed. With consumers holding onto their dollars, waiting for the best possible discounts, stores will have to offer top service and good values to lure shoppers in.

The International Council of Shopping Centers foresees sales barely rising above last year's pace, meaning retailers will have their work cut out for them in the crucial final month of the holiday season.

``We're looking at a slight uptick of maybe one percent,'' said Malachy Kavanagh, a spokesman for the Manhattan-based ICSC. ``Consumer confidence has been rattled, so no one's looking for this to be a particularly stellar season. That could change if the government passes that sales tax-free day they've been talking about. That could dramatically change people's buying habits.''

But while shoppers may be clutching their wallets a little more tightly than normal, they're still expected to flock to malls over the Christmas holidays - to see the decorations, chat with Santa and fill their shopping lists.

``We're all buzzing around, bracing ourselves for the big Friday,'' said Annette Bethers, senior marketing director for the Glendale Galleria. ``Last year, we drew 150,000 people into the mall and with the way our traffic's been trending, we expect to draw that and perhaps more.''

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(color) Joe Kosta, group sales manager at Macy's department store in Sherman Oaks Fashion Square, has been busy marking down women's shoes for store sales starting Friday, the traditional start for the Christmas shopping season.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

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HAPPY MALL-IDAYS

SOURCE: Daily News research