Black Friday rush underway in Southern California stores

Malls, individual shops and electronics stores were stuffed with thousands of Black Friday shoppers today. A wave of frantic customers were on hand before dawn, but the mood was calmer in the afternoon.

Stores all around Southern California displayed their best wares, nestled amid holiday frills and signs touting bargains. As retail-minded consumers swarmed inside, stacks of neatly folded clothes and aisles of CDs were quickly upended as they hunted for discounts.

"A couple of dollars saved here and there might net us another present," said Josephina Zavalza, 31, a homemaker from East L.A. "We have a large family, and we don't want to leave anybody out this holiday."

Zavalza and her husband, Ivan, lugged three enormous Disney Store and Aeropostale bags crammed with toys, clothes, dolls and books into the JCPenny store at Glendale Galleria.

The couple, who had come with Ivan's cousin and aunt, planned to get 90% of their holiday shopping out of the way today, much of it for their two young daughters.

"I hope they're happy with what we bought -- we can't afford to hear otherwise," Josefina Zavalza said. "We're just here to save a few bucks because we're tight in our budget."

Shoppers lined up for hours, and some for days, outside stores like Best Buy and JCPenny, waiting for door-buster sales to launch throughout the pre-dawn hours. Often, only the lucky few at the front of the lines could grab the really extravagent discounts.

Many stores are extending their hours through the weekend, bracing for customers to continue streaming in and scrounging for deals. At the same time, they're preparing for next week's CyberMonday, a day of online deals.

All retailers are hoping that Black Friday gives them some buoyancy as they start to slosh through what may turn out to be a slow and dreary holiday shopping season. 

But some stores, like Mervyns and Kmart, were neglected. Others left shoppers out in the cold when they opened later than expected.

Around 20 people huddled ouside KB Toys in Glendale Galleria a little after 4 a.m. JCPenny had just opened, and the mall was bustling. But KB Toys, which had been scheduled to open at midnight, still had a metal grate over its entrance. Those in line said a store representative had announced earlier that the new opening time was 5 a.m.

Vanessa Montiel, 34, a teacher from Glendale, was seething. She and her husband Cesar had taken their three young children to the store at 11:40 p.m. Thanksgiving night, hoping to get the first crack at the buy-two-get-one-free offer for the Tomb Raider video game.

Hours later, after biding their time by spending $300 for clothing and shoes at Children's Place and the Disney Store, Montiel's son was crouching on the ground with his head in his hands, exhausted by the wait.

"It's awful that they tell us one thing and then we end up waiting," Montiel said. "We're here because of the good offers -- it's not that our kids will care if they don't get certain presents, but they do expect gifts from Santa."

The full story is on latimes.com here.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Photo: Thomas Rodas, 6, sleeps on the floor while his mother Santos Rodas waits with bags of Christmas gifts at Glendale Galleria on Friday. The Rodas' arrived at the mall at 2:30 a.m. to take advantage of early morning bargains. Credit: Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[James]

I am blown away by people who take their young kids out all night so that they can go shopping. I just don't understand it.

[Julian]

Gifts under $25 - I have a massive shopping list for the holidays and am always on the look out for great finds on a budget. Just found a great list on a site called Papa City. http://papacity.com/holidays/