Retail numbers up, but Sonoma County consumers remain cautious

<p>Stacey Jabs and Alexis Mijares bought a necklace Friday night at The Classic Duck in Montgomery Village, an early Christmas present for their boss.</p><p>But Jabs and other shoppers out on a drizzly evening two weeks before the Big Day were cautious about their cash.</p><p>“I’m a little worried about the economy,” said Jabs, who works at a Santa Rosa massage spa. “I cut back last year,” she said, and her spending will be about the same this season.</p><p>An unexpected bounce in retail sales nationwide last month raised retailers’ hopes for a strong December. But with unemployment at more than 10 percent at last report in Sonoma County, some people are planning to spend less.</p><p>“We are going to scale back this year,” said Heather Bonzi of Santa Rosa, also shopping at The Classic Duck. She’s set a budget for holiday gift-giving to her family and to local charities, and intends to stick to it.</p><p>“We have to,” Bonzi said. “We need to be careful and we need to prepare for whatever may come next year.”</p><p>Linda Pugh drove from Calistoga to shop at Montgomery Village and picked up gifts for her mother-in-law and grandchildren.</p><p>“I’m a fairly conservative shopper,” Pugh said, standing in line at See’s Candy.</p><p>Pugh, who works at a shoe store in Calistoga, said spending in the small Napa County town is “really down” this season. “It’s worse than last year,” she said. “People have lost their homes and their jobs.”</p><p>Sarah Keiser of Santa Rosa wants to make this Christmas memorable for her son Gage Garvin, who just turned 3 and — for the first time — embraces the tradition of Santa Claus, the reindeer and the “naughty and nice concept,” his mother said.</p><p>Browsing at Kaleidoscope Toys while Gage tried out the games on display, Keiser said she would have to make purchases on the sly, stuffing them into bags while he wasn’t looking.</p><p>To cut Christmas costs, Keiser said her extended family of 11 adults and four children plans to focus gift-giving on the kids.</p><p>“All of the adults in our family pretty much have what they need and want,” she said. Besides, the best part of Christmas morning is watching young ones peel open their presents.</p><p>“That’s so much more exciting,” Keiser said.</p><p>Ron Hodges of Healdsburg said he and his wife, Sharon, will stick to practical gifts: a book for her, perhaps, and cycling shorts for him.</p><p>His brother-in-law likes video games, but since Hodges doesn’t know what titles he wants, “we’ll just get him a gift card.”</p><p>His landscape architectures business is in good shape for next year, Hodges said, but there’s still no need to overspend.</p><p>“How much more stuff do you need in life?” he said.</p><p>Jabs said she’s still going to contribute to consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the nation’s economy.</p><p>“I’ll be shopping right up until the end,” she said.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com.</p>