Early Shopping a TV Hit in San Diego

By: JAMES R. RIFFEL - North County Times wire services | Friday, November 24, 2006 6:49 PM PST ∞

SAN DIEGO - San Diegans turned out early and often for the first shopping day of the Christmas season, in some cases waiting in line overnight for the first chance at today's sales.

The North County Times reported a line of 1,000 people was outside the Wal-Mart in San Marcos when it opened at 5 a.m.

"It was a free-for-all," a man told KFMB-TV outside the Wal-Mart store at Westfield Shoppingtown Parkway Plaza.

Wal-Mart had advertised 52-inch HDTV televisions for less than $500, and they sold out quickly.

Wal-Mart, Target and Macy's all opened early at Grossmont Center in La Mesa, where those TVs and other electronics left the shelves in a hurry, said Betsy Miringoff, the mall's marketing director.

"We had a big rush in the morning for the big specials," Miringoff said. "People lined up here last night."

The Fashion Valley Mall had all its stores open at 6 a.m., and about 300 shoppers were waiting outside Macy's at that time, said Marketing Director Mesa Liles.

"I was floored," said Liles, who spotted people with large amounts of shopping bags leaving stores within just 15 minutes.

Fashion Valley has the added attraction of the Bloomingdale's department store that opened last week.

Besides electronics, people have also been purchasing lots of athletic wear and lingerie, Liles said.

Parking at Fashion Valley has been "challenging, as always" but drivers have been on their best behavior, she said.

A relatively peaceful refuge from the suburban mall crush could be found at downtown's Horton Plaza, which draws shoppers from travelers, Gaslamp District nightlife and office workers -- many of whom took the day off.

There, Santa Claus could be found wandering outside of his booth, waving at families entering the mall. A lonely cosmetics saleswoman at Macy's stood beside her counter, waiting patiently for someone to help.

"You would think this place would be packed," said Linda Mora, a Los Angeles resident who was shopping with her friend from San Diego, Lawrence Scott. "That's why I liked this place."

Eddie Kellum, from Long Beach, was not terribly stressed as he stood by the Lyceum Theatre entrance, waiting for a ride.

"Not too crowded, yeah, the shopping's easy," Kellum said.

The day is called "Black Friday" because many stores go from the red (unprofitable) to the black (profitable) in their accounting because of the increased sales volume.

Business analysts were expecting a strong start to the holiday sales season.

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