By Clyde Noel

The holiday shopping season was not the slam-dunk success for which Los Altos retailers were looking. Downtown merchants selling luxury products enjoyed a year-to-year sales gain while others saw traffic and purchases fall behind last year’s numbers.

“Our holiday sales were better than last year because people like us and trust us,” said Lynda Newlon, owner of Acacia C clothing store. “There is a misconception about Los Altos pricing, and people perceive we are higher priced than mall stores, but often we have a better price, offer premium gift wrapping and a better variety.”

Dennis Rich’s Men and Women’s clothing store did much better this Christmas than last because everything was on sale.

“We have to compete with the department stores where the entire store is on sale, “Rich said. “We still have a good inventory and will be here another six months unless someone takes over the lease.”

With a brighter economy, a more stable stock market and the war in Iraq over, people were expected to be more inclined to open their wallets, but they opened it in different ways.

Next to Starbucks, the two busiest stores on Main Street were GW of Los Altos and the Discovery Shop.

“We have only been open two weeks and everything we put out sells,” said Sandy Grijalva, store manager for GW of Los Altos. “This community is great and we are glad we moved here.”

Linda Dodge, owner of Lin’s Toy Cubbard said her sales were about the same as last year.

A.G. Ferrari and Uncommon Threads were among the few stores that reported a good season. Both attributed high sales to repeat business and good customer service.