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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

2019 Holiday Season Rush For Shoppers

As retailers enter their busiest time of the year, some of the Valley’s largest retail centers are going beyond the traditional mall Santa gimmick to attract holiday shoppers off the internet and into their stores. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield-owned malls in Canoga Park, Valencia and Sherman Oaks will feature family-friendly ice rinks and roaming carolers; Caruso’s outdoor Americana at Brand in Glendale has already dressed up its main courtyard as “Santa’s Workshop,” complete with appearances from a few North Pole elves; The Oaks Shopping Center in Thousand Oaks has set up a Christmas tree farm selling Douglas firs and white pines decorated by local businesses; and, in addition to serving hot cocoa and gingerbread cookies, the Sherman Oaks Galleria will host an “elf magic show” and ornament decoration station. As holiday sales represent a hefty 20 to 30 percent of all retail sales each year, malls are realizing that their success at year’s end depends on them offering unique experiences their customers can’t get online or at competing centers. The National Retail Federation released last month its forecast for winter holiday spending, predicting an increase of 3.8 to 4.2 percent from the 2018 season for a total of more than $730 billion in transactions. That beats the annual average increase of 3.7 percent. “Economic data and the recent momentum of the economy show that we can expect a much stronger holiday season than last year. Job growth and higher wages mean there’s more money in families’ pockets, so we see both the willingness and ability to spend this holiday season,” said NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz in a statement. While holiday spending is expected to hit a high-water mark in 2019, brick-and-mortar retailers find themselves struggling to attract customers amid steep competition from the e-commerce sector. NRF predicts online and out-of-store sales will rise by 11 to 14 percent this year to more than $163 billion. And because Thanksgiving falls late this year, the holiday shopping season has six fewer days than usual, putting the pressure on retailers to make each day count.

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