Swap meet sales ailing

The beginning of the Holiday shopping season at the Orange County Market Place is heralded each year with the arrival of Santa Claus.

This year Santa was helped by Anaheim resident Herb McMaken, who arrived in a red 1929 Model A roadster Saturday morning at the swap meet, waving to holiday shoppers and children.

The kids lined up to sit on Santa’s lap this year are still asking for the same stuff they always have, despite a less-than-cheery economic climate — they want toys, video games and ponies, McMaken said.

“Santa’s not worried about the economy,” McMaken said. “He still has plenty of toys.”

If Santa isn’t worried about the economy, the vendors at the swap meet are. This holiday shopping season has been slower than in past years for sellers at the Orange County Market Place, who come each week to sell everything from flip flops and T-shirts to handmade quilts.

Pasadena resident Sandy Warner began selling gold jewelry at swap meets in 1979, slowly expanding her mobile business to include picture frames, glass perfume bottles and fashion accessories. Business was picking up Saturday, she said, but it’s still slower than in years past.

“There are people here at least,” Warner said Saturday as she wrapped up a porcelain jewelry hangar for a customer. “As long as we get people here, business is decent, but it’s been on a steady decline for a while.”

Concerned about the economy, holiday shoppers are spending less this year at the swap meet.

Don Jones, of Wildomar, comes to the Orange County Market Place each year with his family to hunt for bargains on Christmas presents. He toted a wagon behind him Saturday, filed with purchases like electronics and handbags, but he and his family are spending less this year, he said.

“Everyone is scared about the economy,” Jones said. “But I’m hoping Mr. Obama will straighten it all out.”

Bonnie Shown, of Riverside, began her custom quilting business in August after she was laid off from her office job. Now she and her sister display their handiwork each week at the Orange County Market Place. One quilt, which she named “Bonnie’s Dream” hung in her stall on Saturday, an intricate design with patches of purple and blue fabric.

“I’m still looking for work, but I had to do something to keep money coming in,” she said.

Business hasn’t been great so far, but Shown said she has had several orders for custom-made quilts, like one with a surfing theme, and another with a “Wizard of Oz” motif that she hopes will keep her going while money is tight.

Across the street at the weekly swap meet in the parking lot at Orange Coast College, vendors with signs written predominantly in Spanish hawked paintings of the Virgin Mary on Saturday, knock-off handbags, designer jeans and sunglasses. Everything from bottles of hair spray and oven cleaner to furniture was on sale.

Tuoi Vu comes to the swap meet by Orange Coast College each week with her husband to sell cummerbunds, tuxedo shirts and bow ties.

Business usually picks up around the holidays and in May during the wedding season, but not this year, she said. With the economic downturn, there are fewer weddings, fewer holiday parties this year.

“The economy is slow, and people aren’t buying,” Vu said.

Business is slow for Jesus Pacheco, of Santa Ana, who has been selling brand-name shoes at the Orange Coast College swap meet on weekends to supplement his income for the past 16 years.

Shoppers milled in and out between Pacheco’s rows of Converse and Nike shoes, on sale Saturday for two pairs for $48, but few were buying.

“People seem like they don’t want to spend money,” Pacheco said. “The economy is bad and they’re worried about their jobs.”

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.