Shopping

As he strolled yesterday into the J.C. Penney store at the Plaza at King of Prussia, Emanwel Pulley said he was disappointed with the lack of Christmas bargains this year. "I think on Christmas Eve there were more bargains last year than this year," said Pulley, who works at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. "There were a lot of half-price sales" last Christmas, but "this year you're not finding them. You have to put out the extra money. " Pulley was not alone. As last-minute shoppers surged into stores and malls this weekend, they discovered that those big last-minute sales they remembered from last Christmas had largely disappeared.

A 15-year-old boy who had just bought a pair of sneakers was shot and killed on a street bustling with end-of-day shoppers in West Philadelphia yesterday when he and a companion were confronted by fourmen at 52d and Chestnut Streets, police said. Christopher Demby of the Kingsessing section of Philadelphia was walking south on 52d about 5:30 p.m. when he was shot once in the chest by the men, who then dashed across the intersection to a car parked in a McDonald's restaurant lot and drove away, according to Homicide Detective Edward Rocks.

For generations, they talked about this part of the city as if it were Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills or Fifth Avenue in New York. And to some extent, it's still so. Walking along the 1700 block of Walnut Street in Center City, you'll still see pricey shops, manicured women and men in mink coats. But look around - carefully. You'll also see trash and broken beer bottles. You'll see street people lying on steam vents and panhandlers begging for coins. No doubt about it. Once impervious to the ills besetting other shopping districts in the city, this historically elegant block - like so many others - has problems.

If I could point to one gift that sealed my reputation as a creative shopper, it would have to be the Mix'n Match Virgin Mary Dress Up Set refrigerator magnets. The Blessed Mother magnet - all ready for dress-up in a slip and halo - comes with a traditional outfit of robes and veils, plus a waitress uniform, hippie get-up, Catholic School uniform and a stroller for Baby Jesus. It's just offensive enough to be fun - for the right person. I can't say I really discovered this gift.

"Buy yourself something nice. " Such innocuous words are now being sung - repeatedly, with significant implications - in The Shops , an opera about obsessive acquisition, being performed by Center City Opera in the belly of the beast: the subterranean Market & Shops at the Comcast Center. Nobody is saying this food-court venue - where performances take place at 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday - is an improvement over the Academy of Music or the Kimmel Center.

What activity can alleviate loneliness, dispel boredom, provide sports-like competition, the thrill of the hunt, and an escape from life's routines while relieving depression? No, it's not sex. Guess again. Try the game you can play all alone and in a crowd - a pastime that appeals to Americans from 8 to 88. That's right - shopping. And according to recent studies, more of us are doing more of it more often than ever, a phenomenon that is boosting the economy while consumer debt explodes, and savings accounts dwindle.

Black Friday was just OK for some stores in Philadelphia, but pretty good for others. An informal survey of local stores yesterday, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, found that some were doing about the same as they did this time last year, while others were seeing an increase in business. "I expected business to pick up 20 percent this year," said Sandra English, manager of the Cache clothing store on Walnut Street near 18th in Center City. Instead, she said, business is about the same as last year.

Early one Thursday morning, after her mom left for work, Camille Miller sat in her bedroom pecking away at her computer keyboard. Her right hand clenched the mouse, and her eyes were fixed on the screen. What was this 12-year-old doing, you ask? Homework? Playing the latest computer game? Nope. She was shopping. It was too early for the mall. So the next best thing was her computer. She loves shopping for clothes and other "cool" stuff on line. She especially loves hats. This ladylike Jenks Elementary School seventh-grader is like a growing number of young people who have traded traditional trips to the mall for on-line shopping.

They show up at the ferry terminal about 9:15 a.m., carrying full wallets and empty shopping bags. Ten hours later, they're back - with lighter billfolds and bulging bags. The intervening spending spree highlights a shopping mini-cruise that is drawing foot passengers to the Cape May-Lewes Ferry with an offer of continental breakfasts and shuttle-bus service to tax-free shopping outlets in Delaware. "I was tired but happy when I got back," said Debbi Cianchetta, 42, of Cape May. "I went into every store.

We can all eat a whole lot better for a whole lot less if we follow a few simple common-sense procedures when shopping in the American supermarket. The average supermarket today has hundreds of thousands of different items lining its shelves to tempt us into parting with as much of our cash as possible each time we shop. Most of those items we really don't need. The trick is to shop for and buy what we really want and need, and not to be tempted by all of the things we can well do without.