Shoppers Flood Stores, but Not All Take Plunge : Business: Retailers report big crowds as holiday season begins, but consumers appear to be awaiting sales.

Responding to the lure of discounts and promotions, cautious consumers flocked to stores nationwide Friday to determine if the early bird gets the bargain, but many ended up being only window-shoppers.

On what is traditionally the launch to the holiday shopping season, sales were fairly strong across much of the nation, but business was not as brisk as last year--a sign that consumers are increasingly holding out for end-of-the-season sales.

Many shoppers said Friday that they were more upbeat about the economy, confirming recent nationwide polls that show a rise in consumer confidence. However, Friday’s sales reports suggest that--like last year--there will be a late-season sales surge.

That cautiously upbeat mood was apparent in the Southland, where retail sales have been lackluster for years. Sales were higher than expected--but the turnout by curious consumers was even higher.

“We’re feeling a little bit more comfortable about the future,” said Blake Fienchamp, 63, of Huntington Beach, a retired traffic design engineer who was shopping Friday at Westminster Mall. “We’ll spend top dollars for the right thing, but if there’s a sale, we’ll take it.”

“We’re seeing a tremendously cautious and savvy consumer who is not ready to spend a lot right now,” said Kurt Barnard, a New York-based economist and publisher of the Retail Marketing Report newsletter. “Right now, consumers are comparing stores and comparing products. The key words are value and bargains .”

The day got off to a slow start at the Glendale Galleria, where parking spaces were in abundance and most shoppers headed for early-bird specials. But as the day wore on, the shoppers jammed the 260-store mall as drivers searched for a space to park.

Among the Galleria shoppers was Valerie Thompson, who said she plans to spread her shopping throughout the holiday season.

“I know the sales tend to get better if you wait,” Thompson said.

Finding a place to park was the biggest challenge facing shoppers Friday at Northridge Fashion Center. The mall opened at 8 a.m. and quickly filled to capacity, with a steady parade of new arrivals driving up and down each row looking for spaces.

“A lot of people are just looking at this point,” said a salesman in the Bullock’s men’s clothing department at the Northridge mall. “Or, it’s a tradition, they come every year. If they see something special or something they want, they’ll buy it. That’s about it.”

“The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year, but the day after Christmas is becoming bigger because consumer are more value-conscious and believe they can get better bargains at post-Christmas sales,” said Russ Joyner, manager of the Fox Hills Mall in Culver City.

However, Joyner said the turnout was up from last year at Fox Hills, and many of the mall’s customers--such of Larry Carter--were spending heavily.

Carter said he would buy the bulk of his holiday gifts Friday. The early-bird sales at department stores were a big factor in planning his holiday shopping, he said.

“I got a pair of $40 jeans for $17,” he said. “You can’t beat that. . . . I think the sales after Christmas are better, but who needs presents just after Christmas?”

Officials at Buenaventura Mall in Ventura said business there was noticeably higher than in previous years, and that people were doing more than just looking.

“People are still looking for bargains, but I think their outlook on the economy is up,” said Karen LaChance, spokeswoman for the mall.

LaChance said the mall and its individual stores had made a tremendous push to bring people to the shops this year.

“We knew this was the time we needed to get people here,” she said.

In the Southland, many retailers have responded to consumer demand for more days of bargain-shopping. Target and Montgomery Ward served up two-day sales. Robinsons-May, the Broadway and Ross Dress for Less are promoting three-day events that extend through Sunday.

Specialty retailers such as Toys R Us and Oshmann’s Sporting Goods were among those offering discount coupons valid this weekend. Many stores tried to lure consumers out early with discount early-bird specials for shoppers willing to make the rounds between as early as 8 a.m. and as late as noon.

“We’re shopping more this year than last year,” Becky Hoskins, 28, a vocational job counselor and resident of Garden Grove. “Price is very important.”

“I’m a bargain shopper,” said Vernie Hoskins, 52, of Garden Grove, who works for a biscuit company in Santa Fe Springs. “I watch the ads, check the sales pricing (from store to store), always trying to find the best buy.”

Rhona Juengst of Alison Viejo was among the early birds in Orange. She was second in line when more than 100 shoppers gathered for the annual “Big Sale” at L.A. Eyeworks’ South Coast Plaza location. Juengst said prices won’t get any better at L.A. Eyeworks as the holiday shopping season progresses.

Juengst said she drove to South Coast Plaza early on Friday because that’s when the selection will be best.

Juengst purchased a pair of tortoise-shell frames. One was marked down to $90 from $180, the other reduced from $165 to $35. “That’s it,” Juengst said. “I’m going home.”

However, consumers have learned that one-day sales often grow into three-day or weeklong events, and they’ve learned to wait for the best buys, said Theodore Grossman, a marketing professor at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass.

“Consumers are going to play chicken with retailers, and we’ll see who blinks first,” he said.

While some shoppers acknowledge a growing wait-and-buy attitude, they say they will buy heavily early in the season if their personal finances are sound.

Consider Steve Guthrie, who kept watch in a Seattle mall on half-a-dozen bags and boxes while his wife returned periodically with more.

“You get good buys in there,” said the construction worker, nodding at the Sears store. “But they’ll probably get cheaper as you get closer to Christmas.”

However, the shopping mood at the Alderwood Mall near Seattle was mixed because many shoppers are concerned about the area’s economy. Much of the Seattle area gets its holiday spending money from Boeing Co., which this year not only laid off more than 9,000 workers but canceled its annual Christmas employee bonuses.

This was the first time in a decade that the aircraft manufacturing giant withheld the bonus checks, which last year pumped $300 million into the local economy.

“Last year everybody was leery because the Boeing layoffs were starting, said Nordstrom shoe salesman Peter Bangs. “This year, people have prepared themselves for this Christmas season by buckling their belts. I think they didn’t go haywire over the previous months. They prepared themselves a little bit. I know I did.”

“I think the mood is a lot more desperate this year,” said Brad Dell, 29, a biotechnology researcher from Seattle. “I have a friend who just got laid off by Boeing. I think people are being more conservative. At least the people that I know.”

Similarly, the weak New England economy put a damper on sales in the Boston area. For example, there were relatively few shoppers at the vast South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Mass. In the shoe department at the mall’s Lord & Taylor store, shopper Susan Fuller stood before a bargain rack and expressed gratitude for the dearth of other shoppers.

“Makes it easier for us,” she said.

In contrast, Atlanta’s economy is stronger and attitudes have been buoyed by the fact that the city will host the next Summer Olympics. The morning rain and chilly temperatures didn’t keep shoppers away from the malls there.

By noon the crowd that poured into the Cumberland Mall on Atlanta’s northwest side was estimated at 50,000 people, with at least 50,000 more expected before close of business. Most shoppers seemed upbeat as they hurried through the mall catching the early-bird bargains at the larger department stores. Most said they are spending more money this year than in previous years.

Bill Wilson, an electrician for AT&T; in Atlanta, leaned against a rail chatting with his teen-age daughter, Beth, while waiting for the other six members of their shopping party to return.

Wilson said he offered to play chauffeur to his wife and her friends, driving them from mall to mall on their annual shopping spree.

“We’ve bought mostly clothes,” said Wilson as he waved two shopping bags. “We’ll probably buy more this year than last, and thank God we can. My wife and I both have excellent jobs. I’m making more money now than I ever have.”

Wilson said that although they were concentrating on the malls Friday, they would visit discount stores as well before Christmas. “We don’t look for the (cheap) things, but we don’t want to spend the maximum either,” he said.

Some consumers said they were buying practical gifts--among them Connie Blair, 42, a personnel manager for U.S. West in Denver.

“There’s just no job security and the price of homes keep going up and you’re supposed to job hop,” said Blair, clutching her packages of clothing.

After a snowstorm ended in Minnesota on Thursday afternoon, consumers warmed the hearts of retailers by spending heavily at places such as the Mall of America in suburban Minneapolis.

Like Atlanta, economies in the Midwest have been relatively strong--and so has consumer spending.

“Business is brisk today,” Susan Austin, a spokeswoman for the mall said Friday. “Overall, we expect a 3% to 5% increase in holiday season sales by Christmas.”

To be sure, the last 10 days before Christmas are usually the strongest selling period for retailers. Many retailers say, however, that the day after Christmas has become more popular with consumers in recent years. Still, the day after Thanksgiving remains important.

Consider the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance. The mall estimated that 156,250 people shopped there Friday, three times as many as on an average day. And Friday’s shoppers spent an average of $46 each--or a total of almost $7.2 million--about three times normal daily sales.

Also contributing to this story were Times staff writers and correspondents Jesus Sanchez and Scott Sandell in Los Angeles, Greg Johnson, Willson Cummer, Bert Eljera and Frank Messina in Orange County, Jill Bettner in the San Fernando Valley, Constance Sommer and Matthew Mosk in Ventura, Doug Conner in Seattle, Lianne Hart in Houston, Elizabeth Mehren in Boston, Ann Rovin in Denver and Edith Stanley in Atlanta.