Crowds pack South Coast Plaza

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- A constant parade of shoppers strolled across the new

Bridge of Gardens at South Coast Plaza on Friday to take refuge from the

traffic jam of customers inside the mall.

“Most people have the day off, so what else is there to do but go

shopping and get ready for Christmas?” said Thuy Nguyen of Costa Mesa.

“It’s only like three weeks away, and you don’t realize how close it is

until after Thanksgiving.”

Pat Brimacombe of Walnut had another reason.

“We’re here so we don’t have to sit home and watch football,” she

said. “And because this is just a nice place to go.”

South Coast Plaza had an estimated 210,000 visitors Friday, about

5,000 more than last year, and expects about 400,000 visitors throughout

the weekend, said Debra Gunn Downing, a spokeswoman for the shopping

center.

The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest shopping day

of the year.

South Coast Plaza usually averages about 50,000 visitors per day, Gunn

Downing said, and even 70,000 visitors is a high number most other days

during the holiday season.

“It is just such a tradition to launch the holiday season on the day

after Thanksgiving,” she said.

“All the passionate shoppers come today and some people have made it a

family tradition. They are happy shoppers here to have fun on a holiday

weekend with their families and, for some people, it is just a way to get

into the holiday spirit.”

Part of the increase in shoppers from last year could be because of a

new hotel promotion, which offers reduced hotel rates in an attempt to

get out-of-town shoppers to spend a weekend shopping, but the promotion

results will be more visible in the numbers of shoppers throughout the

weekend, Gunn Downing said.

A number of events also helped to kick of the holiday season, such as

craft booths set up for children in Santa’s Village Shoppes, Santa’s

Express Train and performances by the Dickens Carolers.

Rachael Guzman, manager of Aveda, which sells beauty products, said

sales were double that of last year. The most popular items were gift

packages, especially the $77 sets, which are among the most expensive,

she said.

Bang & Olufsen, which sells high-end electronics, did not experience

an increase in sales, however.

Its lower-end merchandise, such as its $160 headphones, sold well, but

with 50 people in the store most of the day, sales representatives didn’t

have the half hour to an hour they normally spend with customers

interested in high-end items, said Jorn Sterup, store manager.