Strong retail sales in L.A. buck weaker national trend.

AREA retailers appear to have had a better holiday shopping season than those in other parts of the country.

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. estimated that taxable retail sales for L.A. County came close to the 5 percent to 6 percent year-over-year increase it projected before Thanksgiving. For the five-county area, which includes Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, the LAEDC's expected sales will approach a projected 8 percent increase.

L.A.'s strength, which included a strong showing among higher-end merchants, came as several groups reduced their national seasonal sales projections. One, the International Council of Shopping Centers, said same-store sales for November and December would likely increase 2.5 percent to 3 percent compared to the like period in 2003, down from original estimates of 3 percent to 4 percent. Deloitte & Touche said its same-store sales projection of a 4.5 percent to 5 percent increase also appeared too high.

The LAEDC's estimates differ because they do not focus strictly on same-store sales growth and measure all taxable retail sales, including automotive.

"It was a very strange rhythm to the holiday season," said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the LAEDC. "We had a barn-burner of a Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), then business softened, then moderated, then last week everyone woke up and realized Christmas was around the corner and the malls were very busy."

Not only did L.A. escape the bad weather of the East, it benefited from population growth and job gains in industries such as travel and tourism, air transportation, international trade, aerospace and film, Kyser said.

"For years, we've lagged the rest of the nation in terms of recovery from recessions and those sorts of things," said Richard Giss, a partner at Deloitte & Touche in Los Angeles, who also expected L.A. retailers to experience sales that are as good or better than the rest of the country. "Right now, we don't have anything holding our area down."

Luxury sales were particularly strong as gas prices and rising interest rates had less of an impact on high-end consumers. This was also a record year for gift cards. All told, department stores were projected to have moderate gains, while specialty stores experienced mixed results for the holidays.

"Consumers were obviously going for luxury and they didn't blink an eye at the prices they were asked to pay," said Giss, noting that the action was likely a combination of holiday bonuses and baby boomers who decided to buy themselves expensive gifts.

Staff reporter Rebecca Flass can be reached at [phone], ext. 230, or at [e-mail].