MADISON, Wis. -- It's been a very merry Christmas for two locally-owned retailers on Madison’s West Side. Both Fontana Sports and Frugal Muse Books celebrated their first holiday under new roofs.

“We had a good holiday season. We were probably up 5 percent from last year,” said Fontana owner John Hutchinson.

“Great season, really good, for our new store, new location,” said Todd Gray, manager of Frugal Muse’s Junction Road location.

He estimated store sales may be up as much as 10 percent this year.

At Fontana, an early blast of winter weather has helped boost business.

“We're big into the cross country skis, snow shoes, downhill skis, so having the early snow, that 16-inch snow, really put a push on our business,” said Hutchinson.

Frugal Muse's new location, including foot traffic from nearby Fontana Sports, has helped their sales, according to Gray.

While both stores saw increased sales, Hutchinson felt his customers definitely bought on a budget. His store saw far more people paying out of their pockets, as opposed to customers charging their purchases.

“I think people took a certain amount of money out of the bank -- and that's what they were going to spend. So, we were finding our cash sales were two and a-half times what they normally would have been,” Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson is also President of the Greater State Street Business Association. He says stores along State were more likely hurt by the early season snow storm than helped, but most still reported a better holiday season than last year.

Individual retailers are expected to post sales figures in January, but a survey out Monday from Mastercard shows sales are up nationwide 3.5 percent over last year.