SEASON OPENS WITH A RUSH : SHOPPERS CASH IN ON MALL DEALS.Byline: Elizabeth Aguilera Daily News Staff Writer Shoppers mobbed San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. area malls Friday, ready to shop till they dropped at the start of the traditional Christmas season. Nick Villamizar, 22, tried to be one of the early ones. He and his friends showed up at Northridge Fashion Center Northridge Fashion Center is a large shopping mall located in Northridge, California. It opened in 1971. It was severely damaged during the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, but renovated extensively in 1995 and 1998. at 6:45 a.m. But they found hundreds of people waiting to get into the stores when they arrived. Villamizar was philosophical. ``We're procrastinators trying to improve,'' he said, rich with the knowledge that next time, he would have to get to the stores even earlier to be among the first. A lot is riding on this shopping season. ``The last few years have been pretty sad,'' said Jackie Fernandez, director of retail consulting for the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche. On Friday, Fernandez said from talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to shoppers in the past several weeks and viewing the crowds at another big mall, Glendale Galleria The Glendale Galleria is a large 3 story regional shopping mall located in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. It is the second largest mall in Los Angeles County. It is located in Downtown Glendale. , she believes a strong season has arrived. ``The consumers are much more upbeat in terms of wanting to spend,'' Fernandez said. Richard Giss, a retailing expert from the accounting firm, gave a similarly cheery reading of retail conditions. ``I'm more optimistic about this holiday season than I have been in the past four years,'' said Giss. Said Annette Bethers, Northridge Fashion Center marketing director: ``It has started off with a bang, we are expecting good things this year.'' Meanwhile, shoppers concerned about having five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas were racing Friday to buy the gifts they needed to check off everyone on their lists. Store workers said the shopping was more frenzied than usual - even for the biggest shopping day of the year. ``Traditionally they say this is a busy day, but it is really, really busy with Thanksgiving being later,'' said Mary Caley, J.C. Penney manager of cosmetics at the Northridge Fashion Center. Stores gave shoppers reasons to start their buying early. Kmart in West Hills offered a ``101 Dalmatians'' gift bag with posters, stickers, trading cards and snacks. By 6:30 a.m., the 500 gift bags were all gone. J.C. Penney in the Northridge Fashion Center gave away 2,200 Norman Rockwell Noun 1. Norman Rockwell - United States illustrator whose works present a sentimental idealized view of everyday life (1894-1978) Rockwell Saturday Evening Post ornaments in less than four hours. The ornament came with a $5 discount toward a $25 purchase. The department store also offered door busters, which provided an additional 10 percent off selected merchandise on purchases before noon. ``We wanted to get people out of bed early,'' said Tracy Thompson, personnel and operations manager See datacenter manager. for the Northridge store. Target in Woodland Hills was giving out a ``Holiday Survival Kit,'' with discount coupons and samples. Meanwhile, retailers beefed up their sales teams for the big shopping day. J.C. Penney, which normally runs on 150 sales associates, had more than 320 on duty in Northridge on Friday, said Thompson. Retail stores can do between 20 percent and 25 percent of their annual business between Thanksgiving and Christmas, said Giss. And they can make up to 40 percent of their annual profit during that time, he said. The shopping frenzy hit most every kind of store in every area. At the Kay-Bee Toy store A toy store, or toy shop, is a retail business specializing in the services of selling toys. No longer held to the limitations of the brick and mortar outlet, the toy store has successfully created a presence within the e-commerce industry. in the Antelope Valley Mall The Antelope Valley Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Palmdale, California. Opened in September, 1990, its buildings take up around 1 million square feet (90,000 m²). Its physical main building, parking lots, and ring road businesses encompass an area a bit less than 0. in Palmdale, Lancaster sisters Tonia Lalone and Angie Wood, and Lalone's baby, 5-week-old Jacob, spent an hour in line waiting to make their purchases. ``We are dedicated mommies getting toys for our kids,'' Wood, 30, said. ``The line was outrageous.'' Thipawan Cooney sifted through handbags that were marked down 75 percent at Macy's in Northridge. ``I always shop at the last minute,'' the Northridge resident said. ``But I figured there were sales, so what the heck.'' In the Disney Store at the Northridge Fashion Center, Ron and Peggy Rackerby tried ``101 Dalmatian'' hats on their baby, Tammy. ``I also bought a pig bag for my mother-in-law, she collects pigs,'' Peggy said. Nearby, shopper Robyn Cohen Robyn Cohen is an American actress best known for her role as the often topless script girl in Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Cohen earned her B.F.A. in dance from the Juilliard School in 1998. sat on a bench with her bags stacked at her feet and ran her hands through her disheveled hair. ``I'm not here for looks, I'm here to shop,'' she said. Angie Garfinkel of Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. said she and her family were going to The Promenade at Westlake to get some of her holiday shopping accomplished. ``We needed to get Hanukkah shopping done because it comes early,'' Garfinkel said. ``But we got more things for ourselves. We're not doing too well.'' At La Curacao in the Panorama City Mall City Mall is a shopping mall located in Eroii Revolutiei square, Bucharest, Romania. The City Mall include:
``We are thinking of buying a computer for the kids, so we are looking at the prices, kind of shopping around,'' said Portillo of North Hollywood. Anna Jimenez and her son, Juan, 9, of North Hollywood said they went from Sears to Kmart in their shopping expedition. ``I seen the remote control car I want for Christmas,'' said Juan, while he and his mother were surveying stores at the Panorama City Mall. The main attraction at the Topanga Plaza for 3-year-old Jake Abts was Santa Claus Santa Claus: see Nicholas, Saint. Santa Claus jolly, gift-giving figure who visits children on Christmas Eve. [Christian Tradition: NCE, 1937] See : Christmas Santa Claus . The bright-eyed child sat on Santa's lap and said: ``I want a jeep and a castle.'' His mother, Hope Abts of Woodland Hills, brought her son to the mall specifically to see the jolly man in the red suit. ``He's been waiting . . .,'' she said. Shopping in the nearby Imaginarium - where the clerks wear reindeer antlers antlers metaphorical decoration for deceived husband. [Western Folklore: Jobes, 395] See : Cuckoldry to be easily identified - Elizabeth Raymond of Woodland Hills sifted through T-shirts with her grandchildren in mind. ``It's something we all have to do, but it's fun, too,'' she said about the holiday shopping. ``It gets hectic around this time, but it's fun,'' said Heather Bopp, Imaginarium store supervisor. ``Customers are very cranky crank·y 1 adj. crank·i·er, crank·i·est 1. Having a bad disposition; peevish. 2. Having eccentric ways; odd. 3. , but we have to be nice,'' she said with a big smile. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos Photo: (1--color) Holiday crowds pack the Northridge Fashion Center, where hundreds of shoppers gathered before 7 a.m. Friday. (2--color) Ana Jimenez and her son, Juan, inspect a toaster See intranet toaster and Video Toaster. (jargon) toaster - 1. The archetypal really stupid application for an embedded microprocessor controller; often used in comments that imply that a scheme is inappropriate technology (but see elevator controller). oven at the Panorama City Mall. (3) The Topanga Plaza in Woodland Hills drew its fair share of bargain hunters Bargain Hunters was a game show on ABC in the summer of 1987, hosted by Peter Tomarken. Games Each episode featured six contestants, with two playing one of the following games — Bargain Quiz, Bargain Trap and Bargain Busters — at a time. for the busiest shopping day of the year. Tina Gerson/Daily News |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion