Traffic, Crowds Didn’t Deter Shoppers’ Binge

Linda Sherwood and her mother-in-law, Phyllis, spent about an hour on the San Diego Freeway driving from the Palos Verdes Peninsula to South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa Friday morning, hoping to get a jump on their Christmas shopping.

They weren’t the only ones.

It was the heaviest traffic day of the year for freeways near major shopping centers, including South Coast Plaza, according to a California Highway Patrol dispatcher in Santa Ana. But although traffic became snarled at times on most freeways, there were no major problems, the CHP said.

Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dave Brooks agreed: “It’s always the heaviest traffic day of the year. We get a lot of calls, but I don’t have any reports of incidents related to it.” Similar reports came from mall staffs and law enforcement officials in Laguna Hills, Brea, Santa Ana, Orange and Buena Park.

The Sherwoods didn’t seem to mind the traffic or the crowds.

“We got here really early, and it hasn’t been too bad,” Linda Sherwood said. “Everybody seems to be really well staffed. People seem to be up for it.”

“We were expecting the worst,” Phyllis Sherwood agreed. “I think it’s early enough in the season that there’s holiday spirit; they’re not panicked or in a frenzy yet.”

At The City Shopping Center in Orange, manager Bill Worsley said there seemed to be slightly more people than last year, especially at the J.C. Penney and May Co. stores and waiting in line to have photos taken with Santa.

Parking lots seemed to be packed everywhere.

South Coast Plaza spokeswoman Maura Eggan said that all 12,000 parking spaces--including 2,000 added this year--were filled by early afternoon.

Few Vacant Spaces

Kim Kelley, parking manager at the Westminster Mall, said there were few vacant spaces in that center’s parking lot, which holds between 6,000 and 7,000 cars.

“It was a heavy day for traffic,” Kelley said. “We had off-site parking for employees. The (mall) parking lot was full.”

Westminster Police Lt. Steve Martinez said that heavy traffic does not always mean a large number of incidents requiring a police response. “I don’t have anything interesting on the log,” he said.

Jolie Payne, an information clerk at the Mission Viejo Mall, said, “Traffic is very heavy--heavier than normal, that’s for sure.” But, she added quickly, “there haven’t been any problems; traffic is still flowing.”

For the second time in three years, the Orange County Fairgrounds Swap Meet was open for business the Friday after Thanksgiving, hoping to attract holiday shoppers. The meet was rained out on that day last year.

“This is the No. 1 retail day of the year, and we wanted to cash in on that,” said Ed Beddoes, assistant manager of the swap meet. “We wanted to introduce people to the swap meet.”

About 30,000 shoppers turned out Friday at the fairgrounds. Some merchants, though, said they were disappointed, contrasting the attendance with that of weekend days, when it averages 38,000 on Saturday and 47,000 on Sunday.

Others, however, said they were happy.

“This is a darn good crowd,” said Bob McClaren), a vendor from Long Beach who sells music boxes, porcelain figures and toys. “It’s not up to par for weekends, but we got shopping mall crowds. This is a pleasant surprise.”

“It would have been nice to do more sales,” added Doug Davenport, who has been selling towels at the swap meet for seven years. “It’s been slower than normal, but anytime you make a dollar you can’t be dissatisfied.”

Many shoppers found the size of the crowd a pleasant surprise.

“We said if we can’t find a parking place, we’ll go to South Coast Plaza. But we didn’t have a problem,” said Leanna Kertson) of Yorba Linda, who was shopping with her sister Betty Van Nortwick), visiting from Fresno. “They talk the crowds up so much, I think it scares people away.”

“We thought we’d be one of the few people who knew about it,” said Lyn )Sturgess) of the Friday swap meet. “Usually it is so packed you can’t even move. It is wall to wall. Absolutely horrendous.”

Sturgess, with her husband, Steve, and 1 1/2-year-old son, Carl, had driven from Redlands especially to do their Christmas shopping at the swap meet.

“We’re staying until the bitter end today,” Steve Sturgess said, “and that will be it. It’s just going to be crazy after this.”

Crowds Grew

The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year, but many at South Coast Plaza said the mall was not as full as they had expected.

Crowds were fairly light in the morning but grew heavier as the day progressed, shoppers and merchants said.

Parking lot attendants, waving white-gloved hands and blowing whistles, directed the traffic, which at times became snarled at entrances and exits.

“I guess we anticipated it,” said Maureen Bates, who lives in Balboa. “It’s not that bad shopping. It’s not as bad as you might think from the parking lot. I’ve seen it busier here, when you couldn’t move.”

Bates, who had bought a Christmas gift for her daughter, said that she usually tries to avoid shopping the day after Thanksgiving but was in the mall killing time while her car was being fixed nearby.

“If it hadn’t been for getting the car done, we wouldn’t have been here today,” she said.

Across Bear Street, at the new $100-million Crystal Court addition, an advertising snafu resulted in The Broadway literally turning away business. Customers who arrived at the store at 8 a.m. took the news in stride when they were told that the wrong time had been printed in advertisements and that they should come back in an hour.

“What can do you do?” shrugged one customer, who then crossed the street to the main mall.

Times staff writers Mary Ann Galante and Karen Kucher contributed to this story.

The Christmas buying season got under way across the country amid a flurry of sales and Santas. Part I, Page 1.