LAST WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS FILLS STORES

LAST WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS FILLS STORES

Byline: Harrison Sheppard and Amy Raisin raisin, in botany and cooking

raisin, dried fruit of certain varieties of grapevines bearing grapes with a high content of sugar and solid flesh. Although the fruit is sometimes artificially dehydrated, it is usually sun dried. and groaned at having to park light years from their destinations, retailers cheered as their cash registers kept making that sweet sound: ca ching!

This time is really insane,'' said Jason Leem, an employee at Mode Plus in the Panorama City Mall City Mall is a shopping mall located in Eroii Revolutiei square, Bucharest, Romania.

The City Mall include: 120 shops 15 fast food restaurants Cityplex (4 screen cinema complex) City Mall Fashion (a series of top fashion presentations) . It's been business all day there's been no time to rest.''

Some shoppers admitted that waiting until Saturday was a symptom of procrastination, while others said it was no big deal.

This is definitely not last minute,'' said Encino resident Jamie Daquino, who was shopping at The Promenade at Woodland Hills with wife Allisa and their infant daughter, Carlie. I normally do it the day before. If the stores were open on Christmas Day, I'd probably be doing it Christmas Day.''

John and Jean Seman of Simi Valley Simi Valley (s s city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. , on the other hand, try to shop early. Jean, in fact, bought items Saturday at The Promenade for Christmas 2000.

Still, they're not quite done.

There's always something you forgot,'' Jean said. You never know till the end.''

The retired bakery owners normally buy gifts for at least 25 people, a chore that costs them $3,000 to $6,000.

The KCET KCET Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (Japan)

KCET Kamaraj College of Engineering and Technology Store of Knowledge at The Promenade specializes in educational and out of the ordinary toys. So guess what's the hot seller?

Pokemon,'' said assistant manager Tai Tranchi. It's unbelievable. They just go crazy. Last year it was Furby, the year before that it was Tickle Me Elmo and this year it's Pokemon.''

Mary Edwards Hurry, who was snacking on nachos at the Panorama City Mall with her husband and son, took the smart route, finishing most of her holiday shopping before this weekend.

I decided to do it early to avoid all this,'' she said, motioning toward the chaotic crowds.

Christmas isn't always golden for every retailer, especially those not located at malls.

December is usually one of my slow months,'' said David Esser, owner of Games Hall of Fame on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Woodland Hills. People buy games off me all year, but when Christmas comes they just have a tendency to go to the mall.''

Normally Esser stocks games of every type, from playing cards playing cards, parts of a set or deck, used in playing various games of chance or skill. The origin of playing cards is unknown, and almost as many theories exist as there are historians of the subject. to backgammon backgammon (b b game of chance and skill played by two persons upon a specially marked board divided by a space, called the bar, into two tables (inner table and outer table), each of which has 12 , but this year he has bought up only one trading card game. Yup, you guessed it: Pokemon.

It seems like there's only one game being played this year,'' Esser said.

: Jeffrey Young peeks into the bag of presents he bought with his parents, Tony and Rose Young, at a toy store A toy store, or toy shop, is a retail business specializing in the services of selling toys. No longer held to the limitations of the brick and mortar outlet, the toy store has successfully created a presence within the e commerce industry. in the Panorama Mall.