Black Friday On Track For Strong SoCal Sales

LOS ANGELES, CA — Holiday shopping, which traditionally begins with the annual Black Friday deals, will feature the usual deep discounts, but many younger shoppers are more likely to whip out their credit cards on Monday, a Cal State Fullerton professor said.

Online shopping nationally has jumped 15.2 percent in the first nine months of the year, compared to last year, said Raymond Sfeir, director of Cal State Fullerton's A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research.

"That is a huge increase," Sfeir said.

It indicates that the annual Cyber Monday online retail event will mark the beginning of the holiday shopping season for many younger discount hawks, Sfeir said.

"I expect ecommerce to grab an even larger portion of retail this year," Sfeir said. "It's sad to see so many stores closing in different malls and shopping centers, including a lot of clothing stores, but for young people that's where they shop these days. They like to take out the cellphone and click a few times and get something in the mail."

It's more convenient in some ways, but without trying clothes on in a store it leads to a lot of returns, Sfeir said.

"They'll order five things and keep one and ship back the rest," Sfeir said. "For the new generation that's what they're used to. They're not used to touching things and kicking the tires so to speak in the stores."

Monday sales are "increasing at a faster rate than the sales on Friday and the (Thanksgiving) weekend in general," Sfeir said.

He predicts a strong shopping season at brick-and-mortar stores, though, based on positive economic indicators.

"We have very good employment data, and that is very important -- the unemployment rate is extremely low," Sfeir said.

The stock market has been retreating, but Sfeir does not think that will affect shopping this weekend.

"I think it will be fine," he said. "Profits are still strong, the economy is doing well and GDP is expected to grow next year. A little less than this year, though."

South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa already has its Santa's Village and North Pole open for photos with Santa Claus. The shopping center also has three large Christmas trees, live holiday music and will be serving hot cocoa and cider.

South Coast Plaza's seeing "double-digit increases in sales over last year," said spokeswoman Lisa Liddane.

The shopping center expects a record year, she added.

City News Service; File Photo: Hundreds of guests shopped for Black Friday doorbuster deals at Target (Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for Target)