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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BubbaFred who wrote (41802)	11/25/2001 10:55:30 AM
From: BubbaFred	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50167

Bon Marché Holiday Parade in Seattle to celebrate Christmas holiday shopping season. On-line retailers are also having great numbers. seattletimes.nwsource.com Many stores crowded; online retailers say sales are up Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific By Jake Batsell Seattle Times business reporter Five minutes after Southcenter Mall opened at 7 a.m. yesterday, the holiday shopping season was already going well for John Williams. And he hadn't spent a dime. Williams, of Burien, was among the throngs of shoppers who began lining up at Southcenter well before dawn for day-after-Thanksgiving freebies. After Williams landed a pair of Disney snow globes at J.C. Penney and a Frosty the Snowman bobblehead doll from Mervyn's, he bolted back to his car and headed for Best Buy to take advantage of five-hour special discounts on CDs. "It's part of the hunt," Williams said. "It's fun for the kids, but it's fun for the adults, too." For shoppers such as Williams, it paid to get up early on one of the year's busiest shopping days. Many stores opened earlier than usual — some as early as 5 a.m. — and offered deep early-bird discounts. And with Washington state officially in a recession, it came as no surprise that price-conscious shoppers were looking for bargains. About 100 people were lined up outside the Northgate Toys R Us for the store's 6 a.m. opening, store director Christy Erdman said. The store was so busy that it extended its early-bird sale on selected items from five to seven hours. Shortly after 7 a.m., hundreds of customers were waiting to enter the Best Buy across from Northgate. At the neighboring Target, portable stereos advertised at $48 sold out within an hour. With discounters offering attention-grabbing deals, malls and department stores countered with their own holiday promotions. Shoppers arriving at Southcenter before 8 a.m. could pick up a ticket for one of 100 gift certificates worth $100 each. And at the downtown Bon Marché, company Chairman Dan Edelman was among employees helping customers convert their receipts into "Bon dollars" redeemable later in the holiday season. Edelman said he was encouraged by the turnout. "I think it's a good barometer for us," Edelman said. The Bon's deals were enough to entice Ria Laxmi of Seattle, who came downtown for the parade but markdowns caught her eye. "I only buy on sale," Laxmi said. At Bellevue Square, clothes topped shoppers' lists, and many people said they were looking for bargains because of smaller holiday budgets. Amy Percival, from West Seattle, said she and her husband were trying to stick to between $300 and $400, a little less than last year. "We're trying to buy a house ... so we've got some concerns," Percival said. For others, grim economic forecasts didn't slow their shopping. Shahed Ghoraishi, who admitted he wanted to be home instead of following his wife and teenage daughters around the mall, said his family will spend around $1,500 on holiday shopping — about the same as last year. Erdman of Toys R Us said yesterday's sales figures were similar to last year's, meaning the economic slowdown wasn't yet affecting the store. Xboxes and GameCubes were sold out within a couple of hours, she said. "Kids will have a great Christmas, and the parents will suffer because they want it to be magical for their kids," Erdman said. But Alison Anderson of Seattle, who was shopping at Toys R Us, said her entire family will be buying less this year. Family members drew names after deciding it would be more economical to buy one present for under $25 than to purchase 20 gifts. Diane Ripley of Shoreline was at Target on an annual shopping trip with her sister. "My husband works for Boeing, and we're worried he might get laid off," she said. "So we're being cautious and just cutting back a bit." As shoppers braved the crowds at brick-and-mortar stores, online retailers reported an uptick in traffic. Bill Curry, spokesman for Amazon.com, said the e-commerce giant was selling 12,000 more items per hour than on last year's day after Thanksgiving. "If the virtual aisles were real aisles, they'd be crowded," Curry said. Yahoo! Shopping said its day-after-Thanksgiving sales were 60 percent higher than last year's. And Microsoft predicted traffic on its MSN eShop site would be up 150 percent yesterday compared with a year ago. Business was brisk at Costco stores yesterday, but that's not big news to the nation's leading wholesale retailer. "It's kind of the same old thing for us," said Jim Sinegal, chief executive of the company. "We always have a good day after Thanksgiving." Seattle Times staff reporters Gina Kim, Bill Kossen and Aydrea Walden contributed to this report.