The large nationwide retailers may ...

The large nationwide retailers may not have been pleased by way of this season's holiday sales numbers, yet local store owners appear to have establish more than coal in their stockings.

observations ranged from "decent" to "outstanding" when local retailers were asked to describe their 2002 holiday sales. Many Bellingham business proprietors said it was the last scarcely any days before Christmas that made the big difference.

"Each day got busier as we got closer to Christmas, with Christmas day [i]or[/i] night before [i]or[/i] preceding being the busiest this year," said David Lucas, proprietor of Gallery West in Fairhaven.

This was the best year at any time for the ...