New millennium or Dark Ages?

Andrew Glazer and Amy R. Spurgeon

NEWPORT MESA -- Call it prepared, precautionary or paranoid. Local

businesses are simply calling it big bucks.

Residents, in preparation for what may happen when internal clocks on the

world’s computers turn to 01/01/00, are stocking up on bottled water,

flashlights, freeze-dried food, guns and ammunition, portable toilets,

stoves and hand-cranked radios.

“Paranoia is very good business,” said Jim Provenzano, store manager of

Big Kmart on Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa.

He said in the past month, customers have been buying bottled water at a

rate of more than 300 gallons a week from his store -- twice the normal

amount.

Jack Carver, vice president of The Grant Boys camping and sporting goods

store on Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa, said he has only one portable

flushing toilet left to sell.

“We’ve sold tons of these,” he said. “People are concerned about what

they will do without running water, how they will defend their homes in

case of rioting and looting, and how they will set up lighting and heat

if they go out.”

He said the store has sold more semiautomatic pistols, short-barrel pump

shotguns, revolvers -- “home defense weapons” -- than ever. Grant Boys

has been in business for more than 50 years.

Carver and Rich Fowler, a salesman at Adventure 16 Outdoor and Travel

Outfitters on Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa, said they’re also selling

hundreds of packets of freeze-dried chili with beans, turkey tetrazzini

and beef stew.

“One guy came in and bought thousands of dollars worth,” Fowler said. “He

said if nothing happened with Y2K, he’d have one big camping

trip.”Meanwhile, residents and merchants at Newport Beach’s Westcliff

Plaza seem relaxed in their approach to the millennium.

Despite the fact the majority of residents polled Sunday said they were

not concerned about Y2K, Ralph’s grocery store said they will be stocking

up on extra water and batteries in case of an emergency.

“We haven’t had any buying panic yet,” said store director Tom Yeomans.

“We are mainly doing it for our customers.”

Ralph’s, which will be open New Year’s Day, will also be prepared for any

computer related glitches come midnight Friday with temporary registers.

Yeomans said Ralph’s corporate headquarters have been working on becoming

Y2K compliant for the past few months.

“Y2K is pretty basic,” Yeomans said. “A lot of people are buying

champagne. And that’s not Y2K.”Starbucks assistant manager Michael Howard

said the coffee roaster is prepared for the millennium and that most of

his customers aren’t concerned about Y2K. He did admit people were

worried about having to make their own coffee Christmas Day because the

store was closed for the holiday.

Starbucks will be open on New Year’s Day.

Locals withdrawing cash from the Cal-Fed Bank ATM at Westcliff Plaza in

Newport Beach said they were not planning on taking out extra money

before Friday.

“My wife and I will not be taking any extra steps,” said John Stege, 39,

of Newport Beach.

Valori Zaffino, 40, of Costa Mesa, agreed.

“It’s just a date change,” she said.

ACE Hardware store manager Machael Parrett said the store has received a

number of calls within the last few weeks from those preparing for

possible problems associated with New Year’s Day.

“I am not sure where these people are getting their information, but it’s

really scary what they are asking for,” said Parrett, who described

callers as ranging from the extreme to cautious.

She fears residents won’t properly store the propane, gasoline and

hurricane lamps they are stocking up on. Parrett said local fire

departments and the Red Cross can provide a list of the basic information

regarding these fuel-related products.

Cashier Carlos Udino, at the Shell gas station at 17th Street and Irvine

Avenue, said so far business has been normal, but the owners anticipate

people stocking up on gasoline by Monday. He said the station will

determine this week whether or not it needs to push daily gasoline

delivery to twice a day.

“We will wait and see what happens,” Udino said. “Right now we could not

handle that demand.”