Discounts and happy returns

12/27/05

By MELISSA EVANS
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

There's not much you can do about the fruitcake and hand-knit sweater from grandma. Anything with a price tag and receipt, however, was fair game Monday as post-Christmas shoppers headed back to the mall to return everything from socks to tool sets.

"I've already got two of these at home," said Joe Denton, a Santa Maria grandfather, holding up a 40-piece Handyman set at Sears in La Cumbre Plaza. "I guess my kids are running out of ideas. ... It's always the thought that counts I guess."

But most shoppers on Monday appeared to be buying, not returning, thanks to the popularity of gift cards and plain old cash. Shoes and boxes littered the front half of Robinsons-May at La Cumbre Plaza, and sale racks stood nearly empty.

"This department has seen better days," a salesman mumbled while collecting boxes.

Customers flooded the stores to take advantage of deep discounts on Christmas decorations, cards and knickknacks such as Fondue Fountains and talking stuffed animals -- most of which were marked down by at least 75 percent.

Dianne Cain of Santa Barbara said she buys all of her Christmas decorations for the next year in the days following the holiday.

"Look at this," she said, holding up something called a Poker Pug -- a stuffed dog smoking a cigar and holding playing cards. "It's 75 percent off. You can't resist that."

Analysts say merchants are relying more on the post-holiday business to meet their modest sales goals this winter. They're hoping to lure customers with more drastic discounts, longer shopping hours and fresher wares at regular prices.

Store owners are largely aiming their efforts at the growing numbers of gift card holders, who are expected to spend their newfound money more generously. Gift card sales are recorded only when they're redeemed.

"Retailers have recognized that December has 31 days," said Marshal Cohen, chief analyst at NPD Group Inc., a market research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y.

In Santa Barbara, Mandy Christman, 7, was trying to decide between a toy called the Snow Cool Hotel and Fairytopia on Monday while shopping with her mom at KB Toys at La Cumbre Plaza.

"I got $50 from my grandma," she said. "But I don't want to spend it all today."

The Paseo Nuevo downtown seemed a little more mellow, but shoppers crowded into Nordstrom's for the store's half-yearly sale, sniffing perfume and fingering marked-down jewelry.

James Kaplan, Mark Brosen and Jim Phillips, meanwhile, sat slumped on couches in the ladies' department at Nordstrom guarding bags of clothes.

"You'd think they would be tired of all this," said Mr. Phillips, referring to their wives' insistence on shopping Monday. "After today, I am not setting foot in a store until next Christmas."

ANA ELISA FUENTES/NEWS-PRESS
Shoppers waltz through a downtown Santa Barbara department store on Monday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.