Discount seekers flock to North County stores

By: PAUL EAKINS - Staff Writer | Monday, December 26, 2005 8:45 PM PST ∞

NORTH COUNTY ---- From Carlsbad to Escondido, shoppers returned to area stores in droves Monday as post-Christmas discounts lured them like Santa to a plate of cookies.

Although Westfield North County in Escondido opened two hours earlier than usual Monday, cars began streaming into the parking lot well before then.

"It's been an excellent day so far. Lots were 75 percent full by 8 o'clock this morning when the mall opened," said Ryan Perry, general manager of the mall, which has about 200 retailers.

As the parking lot filled, drivers cruised up and down the rows searching for an empty space. Inside the mall, crowds set upon stores displaying advertisements of 30 percent, 40 percent or 50 percent off or even more.

"We think it's worse than before Christmas. I was in line for 35 minutes. I was in the parking lot for almost 40 minutes," said Jackie Schulte of San Marcos, who was waiting in line at Robinson's-May with her daughter, Kathy Hutton of Poway, to exchange a jogging suit and to buy some discounted clothes.

Many retailers around the country are depending on shoppers to snap up discounted items this week to help offset what has been a lackluster shopping season.

"There's a perception that retailers discount after Christmas, so people think they get more bang for their buck after Christmas than before," Perry said.

This year, more people waited until the last minute to do their Christmas shopping, causing angst among retailers, who responded with longer hours and deeper discounts. Many stores aimed their efforts at the growing numbers of gift-card holders who are expected to descend on stores in coming days. Gift cards are recorded as sales only when they're redeemed.

According to ShopperTrak RCT, the week after Christmas accounted for 10 percent of holiday sales last year, but analysts expect that to rise to 14 percent this year, given gift cards' soaring popularity.

The National Retail Federation estimates that consumers will spend $18.48 billion on gift cards this holiday season, up 6.6 percent from a year ago, based on a survey conducted by BIGresearch. But plenty of malls and stores are seeing far larger increases.

Gift card sales at Westfield are up this year, Perry said. However, many shoppers interviewed Monday said they weren't there with gift cards, but simply to shop.

"I'm getting my Christmas shopping done now," said Mark Epperson of Poway, who said the discounts make up for giving day-late presents.

Epperson said he even found a few things he hadn't really been looking for but that were deals he couldn't pass up.

"I bought a stove top at Sears. A $1,200 stove top for $450!" Epperson said. "I was just going in there to look, but when you see a deal like that, you gotta snag it while the iron's hot."

Ruby O'Dell of Escondido was getting a jump on her shopping for next Christmas.

"No better way to start than the day after," she said.

At Carlsbad Premium Outlets in Carlsbad, shoppers enjoyed a cool day as they walked in the open-air mall checking out sales. In front, however, the parking lot was choked with traffic as a seemingly endless line of vehicles rolled off Interstate 5 onto Palomar Airport Road and into the shopping center.

Inside Banana Republic, one of about 90 stores at the mall, dozens of people got in line to buy clothing at 30 percent or 40 percent off already discounted prices.

Jamie DeJong, a San Francisco resident visiting her parents in San Diego, and her boyfriend, Kevin Martin, said they had waited in the store's checkout line line about 15 minutes.

"I was actually tempted to walk out of line, but I couldn't have gotten it anywhere else," said DeJong, who said she is a regular shopper at Banana Republic.

After arriving less than an hour before, San Marcos resident Liz Holandez said she was "already exhausted" by shopping. As she waited for her family and friends to meet her by their car, Holandez watched over a large box containing a candle tree that her sister had bought for $10. Regular price: $60, she said.

"Normally, I wouldn't come here on a busy day like this. But it's nice to find discounts, so sometimes it's worth the trouble, the stress," Holandez said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact staff writer Paul Eakins at (760) 740-5420 or peakins@nctimes.com.

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