"We think this will be a very good Christmas," said Marty Lastner, general manager at Pearlridge Center. "The Christmas promotion budget this year is more than double last year."
Jan Berman, chairwoman of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii, said the merchants are cautiously optimistic.
"I did an informal survey and merchants feel Christmas this year will be up but not by a lot," Berman said. "Some businesses said they thought it would be down. A lot of it is connected to the year in general and most said this year has been down."
Last December, Oahu's major malls recorded sales increases of between 2.5 percent and 13 percent compared with the previous December.
This year, some merchants will be carrying less inventory, Berman said, and retailers in tourist-oriented malls, such as Ala Moana Center, don't count on Christmas for big business.
Still, the major shopping centers are preparing for the holidays in a big way.
At Pearlridge, for example, Todd Vander Plyum, owner of Los Angeles-based Sand Sculptors International, today is completing a 25-ton sand castle that is 12-feet tall, 20-feet long and 16-feet wide.
It has taken Vander Plyum and his staff 11 days to create the "Aloha Santa's workshop" sand sculpture with menehunes and toys. He has done more than 160 award-winning sand sculptures and won the world sand castle championship four times.
During the Christmas season, Pearlridge also will have "elves" handing out 10,000 free gifts, and two Santas, one dressed in a Hawaiian style.
Meanwhile, Ala Moana will have valet parking service to help alleviate a space crunch due to construction. The center also will have shopping guides in four locations to answer questions on entertainment schedules and help carry shoppers' packages, said Dwight Yoshimura, general manager. The Santa's Light Parade will be held at various times during the holidays, he said.
Kahala Mall will have more than 65 choir, band and orchestra performances, said Susan Pinter, the mall's marketing director. The theme at Kahala is "Symphony Bears" - people in bear costumes with musical instruments to go along with storytellers, clowns and dancing Christmas trees.
Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center will offer parking benefits with purchases and free gift wrapping, said Charlian Wright, marketing director.