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Claudia Smith, 66, showed up at the Everything a Deal store in Oceanside on Tuesday night and bought $2,200 worth of clothing for the few customers in the store.
Store manager Paola Garcia said when Smith first came in, she told customers to buy whatever they wanted. They grabbed everything they could get their hands on in the store where nothing sells for more than $9.99.
"They were greedy," Garcia said.
Smith lived in San Felipe, Mexico, for several years and wanted to buy things for poor Mexican women, she told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
She was evasive when asked about her finances but did say she had invested well and recently came into some money from the sale of her late mother's home. She drives a Lexus and Prius but said her credit cards were maxed out.
Word of the woman's largesse spread through the neighborhood where she lives and where the store is located.
On Wednesday morning, hundreds of women showed up at the store, many waiting all day until Smith arrived again at 4 p.m.
After her $5,000 check cleared, the store allowed 50 women to spend $100 each.
Some customers blushed at the profanity Smith used to criticize men and dispense nonsensical advice, but many hugged Smith as they left the store.
"This is a blessing that wasn't asked for," said Rosa Zamora, 27, of Vista, a single mother of two.
"I'm happy she can do this," said Karen Leon, 24, another mother of two from Vista. "I've never seen this. It's never happened to me."
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Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune,
http://www.signonsandiego.com/
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