Shoppers rise early to bag bargains

Andrew Edwards

Christmas shopping is dead. Long live after-Christmas shopping.

Droves of bargain hunters descended on Newport-Mesa’s shopping

centers on Sunday, and merchants opened their doors early to

accommodate the annual buying rush.

“People just started walking in right away,” said Mayella

Figueroa, an associate at Robinsons-May at Fashion Island, which

opened at 6 a.m. “I think people were waiting outside.”

Robinsons-May was one of several stores offering hefty discounts

Sunday. Some men’s clothing was marked down as much as 75%. Other

shops with prices cut in half or more included Nordstrom Rack in

Costa Mesa and Talbots at South Coast Plaza. Merchants use the sales

to clear out inventory stockpiled for the holiday shopping season.

“A lot of it’s to get rid of the Christmas [stock], a lot of the

heavy-weighted goods, and to get ready for spring,” Robinsons-May

manager Kathy Demeter said.

Though Demeter was planning for the springtime, several customers

had their eyes on goods for next December, loading up on Christmas

decorations.

“We got here at 7 [a.m.] and filled the car with ornaments,”

shopper Lorraine Peterson of Huntington Beach said as she enjoyed a

post-shopping spree coffee at Fashion Island.

Decorations were among the more popular items being sold at South

Coast Plaza’s Restoration Hardware, assistant sales manager Thu Lu

said. Many of her customers came equipped with gift certificates.

“They get all the stuff that they’ve been eyeing for a while,” Lu

said.

Other big sellers on Sunday included barware, gadgets such as

wind-up flashlights, ratchet tools and poker sets.

Gambling gear has been a steady seller throughout the holiday

season, Lu said. Poker sets seemed to be for sale just about

everywhere this year, and shoppers interested in hosting games of

Texas hold ‘em and five-card stud did not have to look far to find

cards, chips and other accessories.

“We’re probably the busiest store in the mall,” said Anwar

Bey-Taylor, senior sales associate at Game Stop at South Coast Plaza.

“Video games are universal. Everybody wants them.”

By Sunday afternoon the store had sold all of its PlayStation 2,

X-Box and Nintendo Game Cube systems. The new Nintendo DS hand-held

system was also gone.

As popular as games may have become, the sight of hundreds of

shoppers lugging bags full of clothes suggested that getting a

bargain on fashions was the day’s big draw.

“I got three pairs of pants for 50 bucks -- that’s pretty good,”

said Yorba Linda shopper Michelle Entsminger, who found her buys at

Fashion Island.

* ANDREW EDWARDS is the news assistant. He can be reached at

(714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at [email protected].