PACK UP THE LEFTOVERS... SET THE ALARM FOR DAWN SHOP TIL YOU DROP RETAIL JUNKIES PREPARING THEMSELVES FOR ANNUAL DAY-AFTER-THANKSGIVING ASSAULT.

Byline: Barbara Correa Staff Writer

For most of us, Thanksgiving is about turkey, football, pumpkin pie and family time. But for serious shoppers across Southern California, it celebrates a completely different kind of holiday tradition: the opening of hunting season.

``It's tough to do it the day after,'' said Linda Spinks of Riverside, a 35-year veteran of post-Thanksgiving Day shopping sprees. ``But this is shopping!''

The deep need of the shopaholic to arise early and hit the malls on Black Friday (industry parlance for the day retailers theoretically watch their balance sheets go from red to black), remains unfathomable to generations of football-watching husbands.

But for expert bargain hunters, the day is a no-nonsense opportunity to get some of the best deals of the year.

There are legitimate reasons to go early. Shoppers who hit retailers like J.C. Penney and Kay-Bee Toys before noon can get 10 percent to 70 percent discounts. Mall rats also come early to avoid even larger crowds later in the day (post-Thanksgiving traffic peaks in the late afternoon), and shoppers looking for special items or sizes arrive first to snag their goods before everyone else finds them, said Daniel Butler, vice president for retail operations at the National Retail Federation, a trade group.

Still, it is a sacrifice. Spinks' annual pilgrimage to Ontario Mills, a massive complex of outlet stores near the Ontario Airport, has outlasted a marriage and her mother's move to a nursing home (they used to go together). And while it's harder now to make the trip alone, Spinks says she wouldn't miss the early-bird specials, where she stocks up on toys for Christmas and the next year's birthdays.

Even shoppers who are normally allergic to crowds will hold their noses and use days like Black Friday for quick strikes. ``I'll go at 7 a.m. and do a quick in and out if there is something specific I know that I want to buy,'' said Jean Carter, an administrative assistant who once paid $5.99 for a denim skirt at Macy's in Burbank. ``It was 50 percent off; plus I used a coupon,'' said Carter. ``Two weeks later I walked in, and they had the same skirt back out for $45.''

'Some people go jogging - we shop'

This year, because of low consumer confidence and general economic weakness, heated competition among retailers promoting their wares could benefit sales-conscious shoppers, said Butler. ``With the economy in the situation it's been in, a lot of retailers are saying, We're all discounters now.''

But for tradition-minded shoppers, getting the best deal isn't always the main motivation for hitting the stores early Friday morning. It's also not about walking off the previous night's gluttonous feast. It's about communing with family, friends - and other shopaholics. ``It's the fun of the crowd,'' said Joanne Vaisman, a kindergarten teacher in Encino out on a recent pre-Thanksgiving shop at the Fashion Square mall in Sherman Oaks.

``It's a mother-daughter thing,'' said Barbara Glucksman, Vaisman's mother and a self-described professional shopper. ``Some people go jogging - we shop.''

Even though they aren't necessarily bargain hunters, Barbara and Joanne have honed a meticulous strategy for Black Friday over 10 years of annual trips to Fashion Square and the Beverly Center.

They hit the mall by 9 a.m. with Christmas/Hanukkah list in hand. The list typically includes 75-80 names of friends, grandchildren, in-laws and exes (Barbara says her brother's been married three times). Then they work through it, ticking off names as they go.

One thing that helps, said Glucksman, is that Black Friday is one of the few days of the year when all the stores are well staffed, whereas at nonholiday periods, ``you can shoot a cannon through Bloomingdales,'' she said.

Still, success comes down to skill and practice. ``You have to know your stores,'' says Glucksman. ``And you have to know your brands.'' (The maximum efficiency style of shopping has definitely rubbed off on Vaisman, who carries a coupon file in her purse at all times.)

Some years, Glucksman enlists her husband in the effort. She and her daughter shop and locate what they want to buy. Then the husband is summoned to wait in line with the credit card, and magazines he brings along for the duration.

The gift list is dispatched by noon, leaving time to make it home for football. Glucksman's enthusiasm for shopping is matched by her love of sports. ``I'm a Kansas City fan,'' she says.

A day to relax

No one can seem to remember when mothers and daughters and aunts and cousins started leaving the kids home with the husbands and fathers while the ladies went out to hit the sales. But mall managers across the region agree that shopping on that day - counting hard-shopping traditionalists - has for years been more about browsing than buying.

In fact, Black Friday has really become a misnomer. ``It's still an important day, but I don't think it's in the top 8 or 9 of biggest shopping days now,'' said Dick Bartlett, general manager of Paseo Colorado, Pasadena's new open-air mall. ``There's a lot of looking to get ideas that day.''

In truth, the day after Christmas is much better in terms of sales for most retailers than the day after Thanksgiving, due in part to the growth of gift certificates being given as holiday presents. Plus, almost everyone has that day off work, while more people are expected in the office the day after Thanksgiving.

In November of last year, 8.3 percent of same-store sales occurred in November, while 15.5 percent of purchases were made in December, according to the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Retail Chain Store Sales Survey. Still, there's something about Thanksgiving shopping that stirs a nostalgia for the past.

``It's just something we always did: husbands stayed home watching football while the wives went out,'' said Sue Palacios, director of marketing at Ontario Mills. ``Whether it was our most serious shopping day or not, it was a day to relax.''

Post-Thanksgiving shopping hasn't been truly relaxing for a long long time. And this year, the process may be even more frenzied than usual. With Hanukkah beginning the day after Black Friday, and six fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, gift hunting this year will be compressed into a shorter period.

Southern California's shrines to shopping have come up with some interesting ways to bring some order to the chaos.

In addition to posting masseuses in its courtyards, Fashion Square will launch a customer wish list program similar to a wedding gift registry. Beginning the day after Thanksgiving, shoppers will be able to fill out a wish list and leave it with the mall concierge. Then relatives or friends can pull the list and get something the person they're buying for really wants. The only catch is that, unlike a department store wedding registry, the wish list won't be electronic, so buyers will need to come back to the concierge to mark off what they've bought. Whether shoppers follow through or not, the mall wins out because duplicate gifting will bring customers back in to make returns.

Ontario Mills is taking a less subtle approach to gift guidance. ``We do a 'hint, hint, nudge, nudge' postcard campaign, where the customer lists things they like in a store then addresses the postcard to someone - maybe to her husband's work address,'' said Palacios.

The shopping center will also pass out fliers listing the best deals of every week during December, to help confused first-timers navigate the labyrinth of stores there. ``It can be overwhelming,'' she said.

That's no deterrent to the committed shopper. ``I'm shopping by 7 a.m. every year,'' said Carole Ellis, a day-after-Thanksgiving shopper recently checking out a new Nordstrom Rack in downtown Long Beach. Ellis, a seasoned shopper, once witnessed an actual bargain basement sale in a Los Angeles department store, complete with women grabbing things out of each other's arms. ``I always think, Should I do it this year?'' she said. ``But somehow, I always manage to get out to the mall. It's a tradition.''

HATE MALLS?

ONLINE SHOPPING: With Web sites like bizrate.com, qvc.com and amazon.com, holiday shopping never again has to involve searching for a parking space.

PERSONAL SHOPPERS: Hate shopping and have cash to burn? Let other people do your dirty work: www.your-shopper.com/

REGIFTING: Sometimes the best place to shop is in your own closet. Read about how regifters and regiftees feel about the practice: www.giftme.com/art/artRegifting.html.

CAPTION(S):

box, drawing

Box:

HATE MALLS? (see text) Drawing:

(color) no caption (Woman shopping)

Jorge Irribarren/Staff Artist