Business Booming for First Fourth Since War : Holiday: Hundreds of county merchants--from bait shacks to catering services--brace for Independence Day wave.

COSTA MESA —  It’s hard not to notice David Jansson’s party supply store this time of year. If the twin American flag displays in the picture windows don’t catch your eye, the 12-foot-wide red, white and blue balloon flying overhead certainly will.

Say the words Fourth of July to a guy like Jansson, and his eyes light up like fireworks.

Sales of holiday-related items this year are “very strong,” as families prepare one last blast to celebrate the end of the Gulf War, he said.

There will be “a lot of parties going on this Fourth,” Jansson said.

Jansson’s Newport Party Center on Newport Boulevard is just one of hundreds of county small businesses--from bait shacks to catering services--that are bracing for a wave of business from Independence Day.

Already, Jansson said earlier this week, a couple of guys have come in and plunked down $200 to $300 each to buy hundreds of little American flags to decorate their boats.

“People still feel good” about the end of the war, he said.

Even small shops get into the Independence Day spirit. Dottie Quay, who operates the Pretty Woman Boutique on Poinsettia Avenue in Corona del Mar, put American flags in a planter in front of the shop and a flashy red, white and blue dress in the window.

“I’ve had some comments kidding me about it,” she said, “because everything in the shop is red, white and blue.”

Well, not everything. By Tuesday, she said, sales of the patriotic wear had whittled down her inventory to the point where she had to rummage around to find a red hat for one customer.

The unabashed Americanism seemed to work. “I seem to have a lot of traffic” in the store, she said.

The Fourth also means a strong business for liquor stores, peddlers of hot dogs and purveyors of suntan lotions.

Dave Goettsch, who operates the Mr. Keg beer store in Cypress, said the Fourth is about twice as busy as usual.

Still, it’s not the biggest day of the year. That’s Halloween, he said, followed by New Year’s Eve and Super Bowl Sunday, then Independence Day.

“I personally delivered (beer kegs) to two big company parties” this week, he said. “This is a real patriotic-type Fourth of July. They got something to party about.”

Despite liquor tax increases this year, price competition in the beer industry this summer could mean lower prices than those of last year on many labels, said John Lennon, vice president of Wisdom Imports Sales Co. in Irvine, which imports the fast-growing Tecate brand from Mexico.

“If we get good weather, I expect good sales,” he said.

The Fourth is a good day to own a beachside delicatessen. Chuck Allen of Chuck & Matt’s Deli in Laguna Beach said he has to hire extra help for Independence Day to keep up with the demand.

He sells a lot of barbecued chicken and ribs to people who cannot make their own because of a city law barring open fires on the beach.

Akoubian’s Delicatessen & Grocery in Fountain Valley will do a big business--but not because the store is next to the beach. Owner Liz Akoubian said the deli is within eyeshot of the annual Fountain Valley Fiesta that runs through the weekend.

Not only does she have sales in the store, but she is catering 200 to 300 pizzas for resale at the fiesta.

Carl’s Jr., the hamburger chain based in Anaheim, is catering a fireworks show in Orange. Carl’s officials expect to feed 3,000 of the 5,000 people in the football stadium at El Modena High School.

Patty Parks, a Carl Karcher Enterprises spokeswoman, said 25% of the profits from the sales of hamburgers, hot dogs and grilled chicken sandwiches will go to the Orange Kiwanis Club, sponsors of the event.