Locally, area merchants apparently had a merrier Christmas this year than did some of their national counterparts, both in merchandise and gift card sales.

“We had a very successful Christmas season,” said Joe Unger, manager of Unger’s Shoe Store in Ironton. “We sold a lot of real popular items … Wigwam woolen socks, MBT shoes and Birkenstock … we sold the daylights out of them. And we probably sold more gift certificates than in any other year.”

Sonja Camp, manager of the Family Dollar Store in South Point, also said Christmas sales were good.

“It was so hectic,” she said.

While calls made to the Wal-Mart Supercenter in South Point were not returned, KMart in Chesapeake reported a healthy shopping season as well.

“It was good. There were certain hot items like the Wii and anything Hannah Montana and Smart Cycle,” Charlie Cooksey, assistant manager, said.

Also popular at KMart

were gift cards including those for other businesses and restaurants in the area, Cooksey said.