Shoppers Wefaa Guiguis' Christmas shopping technique is simple. She fills her wagon with gifts before the shelves empty, then she decides which ones she's going to keep.
swamp stores
Many say they will spend less
this year, but they're starting
early to find bargainsBy Rod Antone, Nelson Daranciang and Gary Kubota
rantone@starbulletin.com, ndaranciang@starbulletin.com, gkubota@starbulletin.com"There are 18 children in my family," Guiguis said today, while shopping at the Iwilei Kmart. "We just buy for them.
"It's tougher this year, but Christmas is for the kids so we do what we can."
The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the heaviest shopping day of the year. This year, it may be a particularly significant gauge of holiday spending to come, as merchants deal with an economy reeling from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Although many shoppers say they plan to spend less this year because of uncertainty over their jobs, you couldn't tell it from the crowds taking in the sales at the shopping malls and major department stores.
Wal-Mart Waipahu opened at midnight. By 6 a.m., employees stopped letting people in because the store was so full, said store manager Walter Lott.
"It would take 15 minutes to walk from one side of the store to the other. There was gridlock in the front of the store," he said.Ten to 15 shoppers at a time were allowed to enter the store as others left. But by 7:45 a.m., there was no need to control the number of shoppers entering.
Lott said the store hired six police officers to help control the flow of people, while 15 employees were in the parking lot doing traffic control.
Pearl City police said officers were monitoring overflow traffic heading to the store on the side streets.
At Ala Moana Center, manager Dwight Yoshimura said traffic was 10-15 percent higher than the first day of Christmas shopping last year.
"It looks really, really promising," he said. Yoshimura credits merchants for having good sales to lure shoppers. Extra parking areas, which were under construction last year, also have made parking much more convenient, he said.
Windward Mall manager Jonathan Kim also was encouraged by the number of shoppers who showed up today.
"It's hustling, that's a good sign," he said. This is Kim's first year as mall manager. However, he said maintenance workers told him the line of people waiting to get into the KayBee Toys store today was just as long as last year.
At Kmart, however, shoppers seemed more mindful of their financial limitations.
"I'm probably going to spend a hundred dollars less than last year," said Jose Elvis, a Waikiki hotel chef who said the downturn in tourism after Sept. 11 meant he works two days less a week. "They cut my hours, but we've got some savings from last year."
Kmart security officials said they've noticed a smaller crowd this year for their day-after-Thanksgiving sale. Oddly enough, however, they said overall sales are up about $10,000, compared to the same time last year.
That could be because of shoppers like Peter Evans, who started buying Christmas gifts much earlier this year.
"It's a lot easier if you spread the shopping bills over some time instead of all at once," Evans said while holding a Barbie Magi-Key House under his arm. "We're also doing some smarter grocery shopping so that helps too."
Evans, who works at the bell desk at the Halekulani Hotel, said he's definitely feeling the shopping pinch this year. But with a 5-year-old daughter, he said he's got to find a way to make things work out.
"You know, it's so depressing this year with everything you hear on the news, but it's still Christmas."
On Maui, many residents say they'll be spending about the same or less than last year, unsure about their jobs.
"We don't know what our future is like," said Cathy Valdez, a bookkeeper with Island Marine, who's planning to spend 20 percent less this Christmas. "We don't know if layoffs are coming."
Edwin Beado said he's either spending about the same or less this holiday season. He works as a full-time maintenance employee for the Old Lahaina Luau but is unsure about the number of work hours he'll get as an on-call, part-time security guard.
Mike Ellingbo, co-owner of the Maui Art A La Carte at the Lahaina Cannery Mall, said business was about the same as or better than last year -- until September 11.
Since then, like many other retailers he knows, his business has decreased by 25 to 30 percent compared to last year. "I think it's pretty consistent with others," he said.