SECTION TWO MONDAY DEC. 11, 1989 Electric holiday The Country Club Plaza dons its Christmas best with 156,000 lights in a spectacle that draws sightseers from across the nation. This year, the Plaza celebrates 60 years of lighting tradition. Keith ThorpeKANSAN Actress and KU grad Dee Wallace Stone turns on the lights. No vacancy on Plaza when lights come on By Liz Hueben Kansan staff writer. In the hotels and streets of Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, throngs of partiers flocked to get a look at the annual Plaza lighting ceremony Thanksgiving night. Thanksgiving is one night when hotels around the Plaza are booked solid year after year. Some families and friends want to view the lights from their own private rooms away from the crowds and traffic jams. Some just want to party. The partiers crowded together on hotel balconies and cheered as the switch was flipped. A room in a Plaza hotel cannot be rented on a whim from Thanksgiving day. Most of the hotels start offering rooms as far as a year in advance. Some want to kick off the holiday season in a special way with the yearly tradition. Heidi Zingsheim, reservation clerk for the Alameda Plaza Hotel, said people who had stayed at the Alameda on previous Thanksgiv- ings had priority for reservations for the next year. She said if those guests had not confirmed their reservations by June, then people who had sent them to her would have a first-come, first-serve basis. Zingsheim said some families had stayed at the Alameda every Thanksgiving since the hotel opened in 1972. Although the Alameda's glass elevator, with its excellent view of the Plaza, wasn't in service this year because of renovation, Zingsheim said the hotel was booked solid. In January, the Alameda will become the Ritz-Carlton of Kansas City. "We look forward to starting new traditions next year as the Ritz-Carlton," she said. A reservation clerk at the Marriott Hotel said it followed the same procedure, giving priority to past guests until July. "Hors d'oeuvres and liquor are very expensive. A 12-pack of beer costs $20. But people will pay it because it's a lot of fun sitting in a room drinking and eating and watching the lights," she said. But management of the Raphael Hotel, just down the road from the Alameda, likes to book new guests into the rooms; rooms are offered as soon as letters start flowing in, Rooms in hotels around the plaza range from $110, at the Hilton Plaza ima, to $500, at the Hyatt Regency giving, depending upon the view. that night than on other nights because the demand was higher. The Raphael offers rooms from $250 to $350 and requires guests to buy all food and drink from the hotel. Hill said prices were higher At the Marriott and Hilton, both at 45th and Main streets, the number of rooms with a view of the lights is limited. with no priority for former guests, said Karen Hill, Raphael reservation clerk. Lights have brightened city, lives for 60 years By Kate Lee Korea staff writer Kansan staff writer What began in 1925 with a single strand of lights has become a yearly tradition drawing crowds annually number more than 150,000. This year marks the 60th Anniversary for the Country Club Plaza Lights, said Brenda Tally, director for the Plaza Association. "If you subtract it, it doesn't make 60," she said. "But for four years during World War II, the lights were off." Tally said Charles Pitrat, a J.C. Nichols employee, hung the first of the Country Club Plaza Lights in 1925. Tally said the largest crowd for the Thanksgiving night lighting ceremony was 275,000 in 1988. The lights will be on each night from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m., she said. There are no special activities planned to commemorate the anniversary of its opening, an anniversary lightsç«™ stop Dilard's, 400 W. 47th St. La Bonne Bouchee, 618 Ward Parkway, and Swanson's. 111 Nichols Road. Tally said the lights would be on until Jan. 22, 1990 in celebration of the anniversary. People come from around the world each year to walk around the Plaza, shop and see the lights, she said. There are, however, alternate means of transportation available. Pat Petty, of Surrey's Limited on the Plaza, said surrey and sleigh rides are available each night during the holiday season. Surrey rides are available from 6 to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. "The rides are really popular." she said. "There are tour groups that come through Kansas City and book rides in advance and there are hotels around that offer gift certificates for rides." She said large sleighs were available for $6.50 a person for adults and $3.50 for children under 10. Mall retailers go all-out for Christmas rush With high sales in sight, intricate preparation for season began months ago By Steve Buckner Kansan staff writer When it comes to long-term, all-out assault, leave-no-customer-unblitted planning, few entities can outdo that modern symbol of the holiday season, the shopping mall. "We're ready!" declared Cindy Riley, general manager of the Indian Springs Shopping Center, I-435 and State Avenue, Kansas City, Kan. "Our decorating started in November, with preparation in August," she said. "We planned our ads in July and August, and the merchandise in some of the stores was bought in June. "Retailing is a reactionary thing, but you have to plan ahead." "It's our biggest season," said Riley, who estimated that her shopping center would earn from 30 percent to 40 percent of its annual sales between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Although the amount of preparation may be comparable to the Allies landing at Normandy, the stakes are high for retailers. The strategies to attract business to Indian Springs were two-fold, she said. A heavy radio advertising campaign and gift guide supplements in the mail to the shopping center, Riley said. Once shops arrive to the 19-year old, 100-store store, she said, they are treated to a revamped decoration package appearances by Santa Claus and entertain groups from the area. Similar tactics are being used at the West Ridge Mall, 1801 S.W. Wamaker Road, Topeka, marketing director Suze Smith said. "We have an aggressive marketing program," she said. "We have a variety of community service events and marketing to bring in consumers." The community service events, Smith said, include the Salvation Army's "Angel Tree," which contains the names and gift wishes of needy children and a gift wrapping service sponsored by the American Red Cross. In addition to an all-media advertising blitz, she said, the mall's marketing efforts also include a European trip giveaway. Smith said West Ridge should have increased Christmas sales because the mall had grown from 40 stores when it opened a year and a half ago, to more than 100 stores this year. "It's definitely our busiest time of the year," she said. "We'll do 35 percent of our business as a mail Traffic already has picked up. We could see a definite increase since the first week of November." The Christmas story remains "We add to it every year," she said. "We plan a good six months in advance. We slowly get up to it, but when September gets here, we're buckling down and get squared away." Decorations are at the heart of Oak Park's efforts, Powell said. She and her co-workers decked the mall with 35 individually decorated Christmas trees and even lightened its Fir trees, she said. They also assembled the elf depot station and Santa's castle for pretty much the same at Oak Park Mall, 11481 W. 95th St., Overland Park. Planning, said Jane Powell, marketing director, was of the utmost importance. In addition to the train, the mall features a 16-horse merry-go-round and visits to Santa's lap are not only photographed, but are filmed on VHS tape as well. the Christmas train ride, Powell said. As if all the pre-Christmas promotions weren't enough, there remains the wonder known as the post-holiday sales. Riley of Indian Springs said these sales were an important part of the season. "It's very strong," she said. "People get money for gifts, there's the return factor and there are the clearance sales."