SEASON GOES FROM SPRINT TO STRIDE RETAIL MARATHON LOSING SOME OF ITS SPEED.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

The holiday shopping season began with a tremendous bang on its first day, retailers reported Monday, and then proceeded at a more moderate pace for the rest of the weekend.

Huge discounts lured shoppers from their beds early in the morning Friday, leading the National Retail Federation to trumpet an early victory and project that shoppers spent $27.8 billion over the weekend, nearly 22 percent more than they did last year. The trade group reported that 69 percent of shoppers started spending Friday, tailing off to 57.7 percent Saturday and 21 percent Sunday.

Wal-Mart and J.C. Penney similarly reported a strong start, but not all projections were so rosy. ShopperTrak RCT Corp., a Chicago-based industry watcher, reported that sales dipped 0.5 percent, to $13.41 billion.

``It was a good start, but it faded a bit in the finish,'' C. Britt Beemer, chairman of the survey company America's Research Group, said Monday. ``It got people excited to shop, though.''

Locally, malls reported a robust, if not overwhelming, kickoff to the crucial shopping season. Though usually not as active as the final weekend before Christmas, the three days after Thanksgiving set an important tone for the season.

To ensure that consumers ventured into the malls in a good mood, stores dangled discounts and remained open long hours. One-third of the Camarillo Premium Outlets stores started selling at midnight Thursday and reportedly drew more than a thousand die-hard bargain hunters.

``So far, so good,'' said Michele Rothstein, senior vice president with the outlets mall's owner, Chelsea Property Group. ``We can only judge on traffic, so while Friday was clearly the strongest, we had strong increases all three days.''

Malls generally reported strong results for Friday, though the subsequent days varied somewhat. The Oaks in Thousand Oaks had a somewhat elevated Saturday, then a normal Sunday, as did the Northridge Fashion Center. At the Burbank Town Center, buyers hit hard Friday, rested the next day, then turned the place into ``a madhouse,'' according to Marketing Director Brian Gartland.

``We were obviously a little nervous going into the season, but if this continues, we're going to do pretty well,'' he said. ``I don't expect gangbusters, but I think it'll be good.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Katy Wilmink hangs a wreath in her display booth at a two-day sale of handcrafted ornaments and gifts in Roswell, N.M. Hundreds of shoppers made purchases.

Andrew Poertner/Roswell Daily Record

(2 -- color) A woman with a Macy's bag walks past window shoppers browsing at Bloomingdale's in New York City.

Mary Altaffer/Associated Press