It may not have been record-breaking, but the weekend's retail activity appears to have been better than many expected.

Despite the dire warnings of slow holiday sales, merchants from Roseville to south Sacramento to Folsom say they were generally pleased with business during the days that traditionally mark the beginning of the holiday shopping season.

Their hope now: That business stays steady throughout December.

Galleria numbers soar

At the Westfield Galleria in Roseville, General Manager Gavin Farnham said foot traffic exceeded 132,000 shoppers on Black Friday, up from 64,000 last year.

Some of that jump has to do with the mall being bigger this year. The Galleria recently completed the first phase of a major expansion, increasing the number of parking spaces by 50 percent and adding 48 new stores, bringing the total to more than 190.

Thanksgiving weekend sales totals won't be available for several weeks, but Farnham said store managers are generally "very positive" about their returns over the past few days.

Tom Gomes, who owns the Ashley Avery's Collectables at the Galleria, said his Black Friday sales were down about 5 percent from a year ago. Considering the bad economy and the fact that his franchise never discounts its merchandise, Gomes said such a small drop is a fairly good sign.

"I'm optimistic," he said. "Our big time is really the 10 days before Christmas."

– Jim Downing

Jewelry propels Kmart sales

Kmart on Sacramento's Stockton Boulevard posted robust numbers on the strength of its jewelry sales and demand for layaway services.

"It went very, very well. It was a very good day," said store manager Mike Meade on Monday.

How good?

Friday's sales volume was 22 percent higher than the same day last year. Jewelry sales rose about 30 percent, Meade said. The store, at 5100 Stockton Blvd., turned in the highest jewelry sales in Kmart's nine-store Sacramento region, he said. The territory includes Lake, Placer, Sacramento, Solano and Sutter counties.

The Stockton Boulevard store has long charted strong jewelry sales, but "Black Friday was just an exceptionally busy day for us," Meade said. "We had lines all day."

He said an advertising blitz and storewide sales – many items were 40 percent off – boosted foot traffic, but customers also took advantage of a reintroduced layaway policy. About 10 percent of the sales volume was related to layaway purchases, he said. Apparel and electronics also saw high numbers.

– Darrell Smith

Luxury cars take to the road

High-end car dealers in the Sacramento area reported a good weekend, a positive development during a year when even the supposedly recession-proof luxury auto market has seen consumers hanging onto their dollars.

"This last weekend, we had an uptick in business," said Rick Niello, president of the Niello Co., which operates 13 mostly high-end, foreign auto dealerships in Northern California. "It appears that, across the board, it picked up. We had our best weekend in probably six weeks. … December, in the last eight to 10 years, has traditionally been the biggest month of the year for us."

Lexus began promoting its annual "December to Remember" sales event nationwide over the Thanksgiving weekend. The promotion's signature is a huge red bow that goes with Lexus vehicles bought for holiday gifting. The bows are kept in a warehouse near Lexus' North American headquarters in Torrance.

Patrick McKeehan, Lexus of Roseville's general manager, said his lot's weekend sales were "about what we had last year, and our sister store (Lexus of Sacramento) had a good weekend … up a little bit."

McKeehan said the "December to Remember" campaign historically produces strong sales, "so we're keeping our fingers crossed" this year.

– Mark Glover

'Pleasantly surprised'

Sacramento's two big malls said holiday business was off to a good start.

Arden Fair's traffic increased 5 percent on Friday from a year ago, said senior marketing manager Jennifer Pruitt. Traffic was also up Saturday and Sunday, although somewhat less than 5 percent.

Sales figures weren't available, but she said several retailers reported they were "very pleasantly surprised."

She said discounting was a major presence at Arden Fair. The same was reported around the country.

Westfield Downtown Plaza won't have traffic figures until Friday, but marketing manager Raelene Trumm said "it seemed pretty busy."

Confidence is the key

Business was brisk Friday at Folsom and Vacaville Premium Outlets, where shoppers descended on stores that opened at midnight or even earlier.

"We were very pleased with the weekend. Shoppers came out in droves. There was pent-up demand to shop," said Michele Rothstein, a spokeswoman for Chelsea Property Group, which owns the 80- store Folsom Premium Outlets and the 120-store Vacaville outlet mall.

She said the outlet malls' discounted prices and the midnight sales promotion helped to drive traffic.

Some stores helped by opening as early as 10 p.m. Thursday, Rothstein said. The move, encouraged by Folsom outlet officials, spread out foot traffic and, Rothstein said, "made for a calmer madness. By 1 or 2 a.m., some (customers) were done shopping."

Sales numbers weren't immediately available, but Rothstein said merchants were pleased.

"It's a good place to be right now," Rothstein said. "But we have to keep the shopper shopping smart – and shopping. We've got to keep shoppers' confidence up out there. We've got several weeks to go. This is just the beginning."

– Darrell Smith