Most Saratoga residents got a mailer on Nov. 17 from Patrick James, the men's clothing store on Big Basin Way. But it wasn't a holiday catalog—it announced a closing sale and the imminent closure of the shop that has sold traditional men's clothing and sportswear in downtown Saratoga for the last four years.

George Newton, the manager of the store, has been a friendly fixture at the shop ever since it opened in November 2000.

Newton was a busy man on the opening day of the closing sale on Nov. 19. Busier than he has been in a long time.

And as the customers trooped in, he seemed to be on first name terms with many of them. Newton said that he had become part of the Saratoga community in the four years that he had been manager of the shop. But business never picked up.

"Our lease is expiring soon. And unfortunately we never had the volume we desired in this shop," Newton said.

He said the first blow came when the dot-com economy collapsed as soon as the shop had opened. Even so, the shop did well initially.

"But unfortunately, the small size of the shop restricted our plans."

The store is about 1,600-square feet. Newton indicated that 3,000-square feet was ideal for a store like theirs.

"If we decided to stay, it was going to cost too much," he said.

Newton said that the store and other businesses in the Village suffer from a perception that downtown Saratoga is out of the way.

"There is also the bugaboo of the parking problem," Newton said. "There is no shortage of parking here but everyone thinks there is."

Newton said that everyone wants to park near the business they are going to when they come to downtown Saratoga. But the same people might walk much more when they decide to go to a mall like Valley Fair.

"The local community is small and the downtown is limited. Which way will it grow?" he said. "It is difficult to attract people here and I believe it is an ongoing problem."

Newton said that most of the businesses on Big Basin Way were located in old buildings. "We have a very diverse group of landlords here. And many look only at the bottom-line."

The store tried everything it could to boost its business.

"We tried to remain open late into the night, but there was very little business," Newton said. "We got a little tired of looking at ourselves. People do not necessarily want to buy clothes when they go out for dinner."

Newton said there was no correct way or magic formula to predict business success. "If you speak with 10 different merchants, you will get 10 different answers."

Kristin Davis, executive director of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, agreed.

"We are a very small shopping district. We need two or three anchor stores here. Patrick James was one of the nicest stores in the Village. People really liked them."

Davis said that it was ironic and sad that the men's clothier had decided to go away just when Flobelle, a store for stylish women's wear, had decided to open up almost next door to Patrick James. "The two stores complement each other. I wish I could wave a magic wand to make things all right," she said.

Davis said it would be very difficult to accomplish anything unless the city, the chamber and the business owners worked together.

Vice Mayor Kathleen King said that she was saddened to see the store closing down. "But we also have a bunch of new stores in the Village and I am quite excited about that."

The city gave the Patrick James store a $20,000 incentive to move into the Village in 2000. It was part of a plan to revitalize business districts in the city by attracting stores that would bring more foot-traffic and business to the city. The company had a store in Campbell before they decided to move to Saratoga.

The store on Big Basin Way will remain open until the beginning of January. Newton said that the company was planning to open a new store somewhere else in the South Bay.

But the cute little storefront on Big Basin Way, with its green panels, shingled roof, and the dark green awning with Patrick James written on it, will soon be a thing of the past.