Field Trip: Inclement Weather in Los Angeles Destroys Last Minute Christmas Shopping Volume
Dancing through the aisles... at TCO's Beverly Center and Westfield's Westfield Century City:
As you can see, weather concerns dominated the day.
Hopefully 9am will be early enough to get parking!
655 + 532 + 581 + 353 = 2,121 Huh?
Must be broken sensors.
Hmmm, that's odd.
Well, better hurry to get my MacBook before the crowds gather:
Wow. That was easy. Maybe everyone is wandering around.
Or, maybe not. Perhaps outside?
Helllooooo? Anyone? Well, now that it's 10am, let's see if there are any parking spaces left.
627 + 444 + 510 + 281 = 1,862
60 minute car net influx: 259
Well, maybe they were minivans filled with 6 family members each?
Well, it is kind of chilly.
Uh oh. Well, we can always come back another day.
Hmmm.
h/t: John Gault
(11 votes)
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on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 16:46
#173909
That's from this morning? WTF?
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 00:31
#174094
Saw the same thing today and yesterday in chicago. I always do my shopping during the last week and have not seen anything like this in five years.
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 16:46
#173910
I live minutes from the Galleria Mall in Torrance. Place was pretty much packed, impossible to find a parking spot.
There is so much traffic in the South Bay right now, everyone is scrambling to get stuff done. I just went to the car wash, it was also packed.
Of course, 70 degrees and sunny skies makes a difference....
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 17:01
#173914
classic. mercy buckets, Marla.
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 17:01
#173915
The consumer is dead....long live the consumer.
38 million Americans on food stamps....but they'll still buy ishit, and wii stations. Of course they will.
Merry Christmas everyone...seriously.
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 03:11
#174123
See, in the depression people could still read, or think, and shit like that. So they invented games - like Monopoly. They spent time traveling too. The Joads , Linkhorns, etc.
Now everyone just sits around the glowing rectangles and plays video games. I took up reloading my own ammunation.
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 11:13
#174191
And a prudent hobby that is 'JR'
Praise. Slack.
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 17:10
#173921
Easy. They're all home reading ZH.
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 17:19
#173927
Westfield...
Shop 'till you drop....
And buy some shopping center REIT's...LOL...
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 18:32
#173966
Hey Robot, guess which retailer's got JWN, COH and LULU beat over the past 30 days?
Take a look at Sears Holding, brother, and have yourself a good chuckle!
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 18:56
#173983
Semiconductors have been rockin'.
Oh I wish I was in Cali lyin' on the beach in Santa Monica for the holidays.
Here are some pics of Christmas eve in Manhattan (Cartier's not too busy);
http://www.salisburypost.com/News/122409-hinshaw-nyc-christmas
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 13:36
#174267
I live in SM! I'd prefer Manhattan. I guess the grass is always greener...
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 17:25
#173930
All the people are at the supermarkets and 99cents only stores.
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 10:32
#174180
and Ross! That place was pretty full the 23rd...and not with the usual suspects.
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 17:30
#173933
The picture from the AAPL store is a fake because its stock just hit a record price today. Nice try putting one over us. If only we could see what the AMZN warehouse(s) look like im sure we'd see many many people scurrying out trying to ship the last minute Kindles out.
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 17:43
#173938
LA shopping volume, in the week before Christmas, has been no busier or slower than an average weekend in any of the other cities I've lived in. Las Vegas, for that matter, is pretty damned slow, considering. Granted, it is typically slow the week before Christmas, but even a lot of the folks here have said it is exceptionally slower this year. Step away from the main entrance and you're walking past a lot of empty tables and idle dealers.
I'm sure it has a lot to do with the clear blue skies and bright sunlight getting into shoppers eyes, obscuring the fantastic deals and competetive prices retailers are offering.
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 17:53
#173941
Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah / insert your holiday here / to all. Here's to a healthy/profitable 2010.
I have no idea about shopping volumes and could care less. To monitor that I would have to spend time out with the unwashed masses. Most uncivilized. We do most shopping online - other than the ShopVac filters I bought at Home Depot today, in a fit of pity for the brick and mortar retailers.
The winnings are real despite the Ponzi nature of things. Salut!
-V
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 18:02
#173948
Oh Marla.
Marla Marla Marla.
Uh...I mean..you use a MacBook? Well can you put BSD on it?
Huh huh?
-MobBarley
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 03:14
#174124
OS-x is BSD.
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 18:24
#173963
Close to where I work (LA/Ventura County border), the outdoor malls were packed today. Then again this area is filled with a bunch of retired entertainment industry execs, their lawyers, their doctors, their therapists, etc...
From the looks on their faces, life is "grand"... (then again it could just be their "perma-grin" procedures)
Wait till their home prices collapse next year (if it hasn't started already)...
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 18:27
#173964
I don't have pics. to share but i only wish my local malls here in Pa. looked anything like those nearly deserted ones in Ca. You can't get near ours.
Folks in this area either had a lot of cash stashed under the mattress, or they know and just don't care that the world is supposed to be coming to an end, and want to end it all with all their credit cards maxed-out.
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 18:32
#173967
"know and just don't care that the world is supposed to be coming to an end, and want to end it all with all their credit cards maxed-out."
THEY KNOW, That's WHY they are maxing their cards out. Hello?!?
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 22:29
#174064
english not your first language? What part of my original post didn't you understand?
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 00:13
#174088
All of it, apparently.
;)
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 18:37
#173969
False alarm. Nothing happens before noon in SoCal, even on Christmas Eve. Angelinos need their beauty sleep to maintain that Hollywood look.
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 09:36
#174158
Aw, come on! Haven't you ever been to the Diedrich's in Malibu?
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 18:38
#173971
Too damn funny! I was at The Beverly Center today and can corroborate the story. On the other hand, the goddamn automated parking gates that never work may have diverted all L.A. shoppers to The Grove...
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 18:41
#173972
Here in the Bay Area, the malls have been packed. Valley Fair is full of people for the past couple of days, which is the opposite from last year. Last year it was pretty dead but this year is just about the same as 2007.
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 18:41
#173973
Mr Lowery will NOT be having a happy Hanukkah !!
meanwhile Down Under things are just peachy because we are Different - we have Kangaroos. No recession here just mindless consumers buying things they don't need with money they don't have - Thank you Mr Visa, Miss MasterCard and Uncle Amex for making it all possible through the "Cargo cult".
You want a bubble - just look at our housing - nothing under Half a million that is livable.
Oh that Caesar should have listened to the oracle-------
Beware the Ides of March
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 11:02
#174188
Was just down there, Perth. Yeah, as long as the Chinese largesse keeps up, the iron ore money, natural gas money etc. will keep being converted to over-priced real estate and plastic shit. If the "Chinese put" disappears, look out below. You'll have formerly $150k/per year illiterates walking the street looking for union jobs to retain their 10x overpaid habits.
Now, in NE USA, cold, snowy, and a total contrast to the "fast times" down under. It all hangs by some very thin threads, won't take much to toss it over the edge. Very, very fragile, and the sheep just don't have a clue.
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 18:44
#173976
Oh yes, a socal Christmas, where the weather outside is frightful. The blue skies with a lonely sun and temperatures leaving one to decide between shorts or long pants. I'ts brutal, that combined with the fact that people don't know how to drive can make a miserable holiday.
Merry Christmas
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 19:33
#174004
Christy Canyon?
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 19:02
#173988
"Folks in this area either had a lot of cash stashed under the mattress, or they know and just don't care that the world is supposed to be coming to an end, and want to end it all with all their credit cards maxed-out."
They are not stupid, WHY do you think they ARE maxing-out their credit cards? Hmmm, I wonder.....
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 19:03
#173990
Nikki lives in Michigan. The state with the highest unemployment in the nation. Our malls are packed but I woulnt say that peoples arms are overloaded with goodies. People have scaled way back. Visa will probably report the # of transactions as up... And the market rallies another 60 pts. You can count on cnbs to pay no mind to the avg transaction value which my gut says lower, way lower...
Merry Christmas sheep... May next year give us the courage to rise up and make the buggers eyes water..
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 19:34
#174005
I am sticking with gold, frankinsense, and gold.
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 20:00
#174020
Just a little hint from a friend working in Macy's Manhattan.....90% Europeans & Asians spending Euros & Yen.
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 14:15
#174313
Euro = European
Yen = Asian
Gold = ?
And then there was one...
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 20:17
#174028
They're shopping in Vail (and the surrounding areas) today, for the first time in months unless you count liquor stores and the new medical MJ parlors.
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 20:53
#174036
As always, I got my shopping done today. Much lower volume of shoppers, and lots of stuff on sale. Got a $400 printer for $300. Spoke with other shoppers who agreed that lines were not as bad, and parking was easier to find. Local Best Buy was probably 30% less busy, and the Circuit City down the road is no longer, so BBY sould have captured some of that business, yet it was still less busy from last year at this time.
I live around the corner from the local mall, so I see the traffic volume daily on my walk to Starbucks. There were no lines in/out of parking lot as in previous years. Week-DAYS this season looked like a normal weekEND during any time of the year. Normally weekday mall traffic is a cluster fsck this time of year. Not so this xmas season...and this year there is a giant new Target mall, which did not exist last xmas season.
I thought it even more bizarre that the Wed Farmers Mkt in this same mall, actually took place yesterday. It normally shuts down in November. There was parking to spare during the Mkt.
Namaste, and Happy Holi-daze!
on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 22:48
#174071
In northern Illinois there were moderate amounts of shoppers and a certain excitement in the air. This despite a steady drizzle. Seems likely that a lot of people were in stores just to look for bargains and weren't buying much.
The only bearish sign was a large number of LCD TV's in boxes positioned right at the entrance to the Best Buy --- looks like they ordered more TV's than they were able to sell, and the prices were about half what they were two years ago (but that's probably due to mass production lowering the prices over time).
MSM keeps touting a good shopping season. Here's a typical headline: "Shoppers give stores last-minute sales surge - AP - Thu 2:41 pm ET. Shoppers appear to have given the nation's stores a needed last-minute sales surge..."
Considering last year's numbers were incredibly bad, it's probable that this year's numbers will show Y/Y improvement and stocks will continue to go up. It seems that only incontrovertible bad news will drive the market down; anything neutral to good will keep the bubble inflating.
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 00:13
#174087
the only comment i have on those two specific malls is this - Westfield CC is in CC. if people aret working, people dont really go to that mall. its not a big shopping mecca for the residents nearby. mostly office high rises. westside pavilion may have been much more busy.
the beverly center shouldve had more traffic. except people in la generally shop on robertson (1 block away) or the grove, a mile and a half away. BC is really a place the "brown people" go to. so, they probably shouldve gone to the grove.
now, victoria gardens in rancho cucamonga, montclair plaza, mall of victor valley (of all places) were packed. people are staying much closer to home and spending less (fewer high dollar purchases associated with these 2 malls).
whatever, people cant spend money. good.
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 17:58
#174475
Marla should have gone to the Westfield in Culver City. There was zero parking available on the 23rd and the 24th. . Traffic was backed up for several blocks as people waited for parking spots to open up at the Fox Hills mall. Even as late as 10PM, the parking lot was still at +90% capacity. I haven't seen it like this seen 2004/2005/2006.
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 01:09
#174102
Merry Christmas Marla, TD ( all 44 of you ), Travis, Cornelius, Chumba, CogDis, delacroix, Robo, DH, Mr. Kendig, Vachon, Gus Dufresne, Cheeky where ever you may be, MsCreant, Sqworl, Assetman, Nopat, GordonGecko, PM, ANONYMOUS (with 3 eyes), AsiaBlues, LeoSolarKolivakis, Mr. Middleton, Ruth, Steak, MN Nice, Jana and SACRILEGE
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 14:35
#174328
Merry Christmas to you too Bolweevil, and Happy Holidays to all.
I gave gold, BITCHES. It felt good and was surprisingly well recieved by all.
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 01:31
#174110
Went to the Fry's in San Marcos last Sunday around noon, parked up front plenty of spaces, wandered around for an hour grabbed some stuff, no one in line at all. This place was normally packed over a year ago on an average weekend.
Lots of Christmas tree se;lers sitting on trees even at $20 a pop around San Diego, $100 in years past. Green sharts!
Not a good sign, but hey what do I know?
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 04:20
#174129
Went to the Apple store on 5th and 58th, Monday the 21st. Packed.
Merry Xmas, Zero Hedge!
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 10:25
#174175
Everything Must Go.
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 14:08
#174307
Including the dollar.
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 14:34
#174331
Merry Christmas you golden angel you!
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 12:24
#174217
Everybody is ordering kindles... I got 2 bought it in my PJs.
One for me and one for my sexegenarian father in law.
Shopping was weak in Toronto Ontario too, and then I moved to St. John's, NL - weak there too (not really the pinnacle of commerce but we're just comparing to previous years).
The only family I know who isn't paring back is a couple of corp. lawyers.
on Fri, 12/25/2009 - 13:53
#174290
such a stupid post...OK so you went to one shopping center and this qualifies as research of some kind?
I went outside and it was raining therefore it is raining everywhere. COOL!
on Sat, 12/26/2009 - 16:20
#175035
Retailers Shift to Post-Holiday Deals to Lure Buyers (Update1) | December 26, 2009 | Bloomberg
Excerpt:
… Best Buy, based in Richfield, Minnesota, fell 6 cents to $40.70 on Dec. 24 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart climbed 28 cents to $53.60.
…[Jos. A. Bank’s] shares fell 17 cents to $42.82 on Dec. 24 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Saks lost 12 cents to $6.78 in New York Stock Exchange trading. Plano, Texas-based J.C. Penney dropped 29 cents to $27.02. Target, based in Minneapolis, declined 20 cents to $48.65.
‘Savvier Than Ever’
The Dec. 19 storm dumped 24 inches of snow on Bethesda, Maryland, and 23.2 inches at Philadelphia International Airport, according to the National Weather Service.
Sales fell 13 percent to $6.9 billion on the last Saturday before Christmas from the previous year, according to Chicago- based researcher ShopperTrak RCT Corp. A year ago, that was the second-biggest shopping day after Black Friday, the day after U.S. Thanksgiving.
“Shoppers have been savvier than ever when it comes to price and promotion this holiday season,” Retail Eye’s Walters and Shah wrote. “Promotions have still been needed to get shoppers in.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aU_BkbiXGxfY&pos=5
on Sat, 12/26/2009 - 23:43
#175234
A past rumor of the retailers to get all the sales before a "bank holiday" around Jan 15th?
Ouch!
on Sun, 12/27/2009 - 00:54
#175259
Wow...
All you unreliable bloggers posting wild innuendo and gossip instead of facts. The mall photos were probably 6am on 9/12... Scaring the public and cutting into Governor Broke Ass Arnold's sales tax revenue...
That's what Rahm told me anyway...