Let the shopping begin

Deepa Bharath

Lori Weatherwax usually wakes up at 5 a.m. the day after

Thanksgiving.

This year, she started her day a couple of hours later. But she

was smiling as she carried two heavy shopping bags, one on each hand,

as she stopped near the carousel at South Coast Plaza to rest her

tired feet.

“I do this every, single year,” said Weatherwax, as she watched

the milling crowd. “The lines are really long and parking and lugging

the heavy bags all the way to your car is a pain. But the deals are

great, and it’s worth the trouble.”

Enthusiastic shoppers started earlier than normal this year and

many local stores were seeing more and more of that Friday, the

busiest shopping day of the year, said Kelly Cole, vice president and

general manager of Neiman Marcus in Fashion Island.

“We opened our doors an hour earlier at 9 a.m. [Friday], and it’s

quite busy,” he said. “All over Fashion Island, traffic seems to be

very brisk.”

Holiday shoppers also seem to have started buying their gifts

earlier this year, Cole said. They are especially going for items

such as designer watches and handbags, he said.

“One of the reason these items are going very quickly may be

because customers are beginning to understand that if they like

something and don’t buy it right away, it’s not there the next time

they come to the store,” Cole said.

Nearly 140,000 shoppers were expected to visit South Coast Plaza

on Friday compared to 120,000 visitors last year on the same day,

marketing director Debra Gunn Downing said.

“This year, it’s been busy from the first week of November,” she

said. “There seems to be a high demand for luxury goods, which shows

that Orange County’s economy is strong.”

Susan Franklin, General Manager of the Bvlgari store in South

Coast Plaza, said people were already waiting outside when the store

opened at 9 a.m.

“We’re delighted at the energy and optimism of the holiday

shopping season this year,” she said.

Large crowds, packed parking lots and long waits, even at the

restrooms, didn’t deter too many shoppers from slipping into a

comfortable pair of shoes and pounding shop floors.

“A lot of the big stores, like Nordstrom’s, are offering 30% or

40% discounts,” said Janice Edwards of Mission Viejo, who was

shopping in South Coast Plaza. “That’s what brought me here.”

Shoppers in Fashion Island, who came earlier, said they did that

to avoid the busy afternoon time.

“It’s nice shopping here because it’s not all closed up and

claustrophobic, said Julie Beruman of Westminster.

Marnie Albios of Rancho Santa Margarita said she was pleasantly

surprised to see that Fashion Island was relatively quiet late Friday

morning.

“I got at least some of my shopping done,” she said. “But, of

course, I’m nowhere close to being done.”

* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

She may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or by e-mail at

deepa.bharath@latimes.com.