Bonners Ferry businesses felt the blow of what was said to be the most dismal nationwide holiday shopping season in nearly 40 years.

“I think shoppers were a lot more discriminate with what they spent their money on than they were last year,” said Kelly Navarro, owner of Backwoods Creations. “Everyone that came in was talking about how fearful they were of the economy. People are getting laid off from their jobs and small businesses are closing.”

Navarro said her holiday sales were down from last year.

Tucked Away in Bonners Ferry also saw that holiday sales were down from previous years.

“We did pretty good, but not as good as last year,” said Stephanie Chase with Tucked Away. “We tried to have sales and promotions to bring people in and that did help. People were mainly looking for inexpensive gifts.”

Chase does believe people tried to shop locally.

“We heard people were wanting to buy local,” she said. “People just weren’t in the Christmas spirit.”

Holiday sales typically account for 30 percent to 50 percent of a retailers’ annual total, according to the Associated Press. But shoppers cut back their spending this year as they struggled with job cuts, home foreclosures, portfolio losses and other economic woes.

Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers, expects that sales at established stores for November and December will fall 1.5 percent to 2 percent — which would make it the weakest holiday season since at least 1969, when the index began.

According to preliminary data from SpendingPulse — a division of MasterCard Advisors that tracks total sales paid for by credit card, checks and cash — retail sales fell between 5.5 percent and 8 percent during the holiday season compared with last year. Excluding auto and gas sales, retail sales fell between 2 percent and 4 percent, according to SpendingPulse.

Dick Larson, owner of Larsons in Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry, said his holiday business increased this year.

“We were extremely busy once the first snow came in,” said Larson. “This year’s sales were over last year’s. We sold a lot of snow boots, gloves, hats and pants. We were quite busy.”