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Santa Fe merchants say their Christmas shopping season was busy, if not overly so, with tiffany on sale retailers reporting excellent sales for their stores compared with last year.

On the other hand, a strong 2009 — when compared with a depth-of-the recession 2008 — didn’t provide much to brag about.

But overall the feeling is that things are becoming better.

“I think things have improved,” said Elizabeth Pettus, owner of Things Finer, a jewelry store in La Fonda, and head of the Downtown Merchants Association. “Every year is a surprise, but in (2009) things were on the upswing. Certainly here in La Fonda, it was nice and busy.”

As for her own store, “we were busy, but it was unpredictable,” Pettus said. “The tiffany sale portion of our clientele is local.”

Business was helped by the fact that many people took time off around Christmas, giving them more time to shop, Pettus said.

Pettus also said that merchants are driving sales themselves, sending out e-mails that encouraged potential clients to drop by.

“We all worked harder this year because it’s a tough economy,” she said. “People want to know they’re spending their money on high-quality items.”

At Santa Fe Place and its

75 stores, “like most nationals, we saw a lot of last-minute shopping,” mall manager Beth Riebschlager said. “The last week was very, very busy here. People were waiting for the sales to come out.”

It wasn’t as snowy this year as last, Riebschlager said, and there was an extra day to shop.

On the national level, a survey released by MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse indicated there was an increase of 3.6 percent in national retail and services spending over 2008.

Apparel sales were up

2.3 percent, while electronics were up 6 percent, the survey indicated. In the jewelry and tiffany jewelry on sale category, sales were up 5.6 percent.

At the Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Santa Fe, part of a national chain of 385 stores, “we were very pleased with our sales,” said store manager Benjie Gomez. “It was a very successful season for us.”

Baillio’s stores are back in the Baillio family again after a bankruptcy, and holiday sales were OK during Christmas week, said marketing manager Jeff Baillio.

“Sales were stronger in the Santa Fe store than in Albuquerque, which is unusual,” Baillio said. “The overall weekend was pretty decent, but it was not the best.”

Baillio’s stores “are suffering right now from a lack of inventory,” Baillio said. The previous owners “were not in a position to replace the inventory. We’ve got trucks coming. We hope they get here soon.”

Larry Keller, owner of Design Warehouse on Marcy Street, said his sales for November and December were up in double digits over the same two months last year.

A variety of items, including furniture and gift items, “are rocking out the door,” he said. “We’re starting to see a little bit of light” in the downtrodden economy.

Still, “we have a long way to go to reach the kind of volume we saw a few years ago,” Keller said. “It’s going to take a while, and I think it will be incrementally, not quickly.”

Keller was behind a plan that provided free parking for the last two Saturdays before Christmas. Merchants thanked him for the effort, which apparently drew many local shoppers to return to downtown, Keller said.

“It made it easier for people to get people to come downtown,” Pettus said. “It certainly had to help — we just don’t know how much.”

The weather was also helpful. “We had just the right amount of snow and cold to remind people that it was the holiday season, but not so much that they wouldn’t get in their cars,” Keller said.

A downtown women’s lingerie store, Underpinnings, had sales that were OK but “not as good as last year,” said Marianne Martinez. “People were spending less than last year.”

At Santa Fe Pens in Sanbusco Market Center, “we’re still here,” owner Neal Frank said. “tiffany jewelry sale, we were up 50 percent over last year.”

But that doesn’t mean the good times are here again.

2008 was a very bad year, Frank reminded, meaning his 2009 sales were still below those of a typical year.

“We sold a lot of low-end stuff between $20 and $70, and I brought in some Italian pens at discount prices” that sold well, he said.

Contact Bob Quick at 986-3011 or bobquick@sfnewmexican.com