SHOPPERS HIT THE MALLS RUNNING.

Byline: Pam Park Staff Writer

Shoppers besieged malls across the greater San Fernando Valley over the weekend, driving local holiday sales increases up to three times the level expected nationally.

Sales and traffic at The Oaks shopping center in Thousand Oaks both grew more than 18 percent from the same period in 1999, mall officials reported Monday. Sales figures were not yet available for the Glendale Galleria, but traffic was up 17 percent over last year.

Analysts predicted national holiday sales improvement of only 6 percent or less.

``All the stores we talked to reported they were above what they planned to do and that they were all definitely increasing (from) what their sales were last year,'' said Annette Bethers, marketing director at the Glendale Galleria.

Rebecca Bresson, The Oaks general manager, said appealing new stores, as well as stores reaching their mature potential, are major factors in The Oaks' high numbers.

At The Oaks, home furnishings sales were up by 46 percent over the same period last year; health and beauty products, 42 percent; footwear, 41 percent; and specialty gifts, 17 percent.

Joey Char, marketing director at Northridge Fashion Center, said the mall had a 1.5 percent increase in customer visits and sales were up 6 percent.

``For the most part, Friday was gangbusters. Saturday and Sunday were flat. Overall, the weekend was very good.''

But she cautioned: ``Three days does not a season make.''

Despite warnings of an economic slowdown, many consumers remain upbeat about their financial prospects and have no plans to alter their holiday spending significantly .

Kyi Armstrong of Northridge, a 22-year-old college student, said she uses store-specific - not general purpose - credit cards and pays them off in installments.

``After Christmas, I usually don't buy for a couple of months,'' said Armstrong. ``The economy, to me, will always fluctuate, so I don't really worry about it is at Christmas season.''

Laura Root, 41, of Agoura Hills said economic forecasts were not a part of her holiday shopping warm-up.

``It's Christmas. I get people what they want regardless,'' Root said while finishing her holiday shopping Monday at Topanga Plaza. ``I just spend within what I can, anyway, and what the economy is doing has little impact on that.''

TeleCheck Services, a Houston check acceptance company, reported sales in the Los Angeles Basin increased 3.1 percent. Bill Ford, economic adviser for TeleCheck, said those figures do not include catalog and Internet sales, which are increasingly popular options in California.

The average check written was $125.78, compared with $124.25 last year, Ford said.

Staff Writer Jesse Hiestand contributed to this report.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Nancy Penera of Northridge, a participant in the race for holiday gifts, takes a break Monday at the Northridge Fashion Center.

(2 -- color) Michele Fair of La Crescenta shops at a Northridge mall for a gift for a University of Southern California fan.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer