A typical midday stroll along Lincoln Avenue reveals a seemingly healthy business district, but merchants are feeling tepid about sales.

"We always expect January to be a little slower than normal," said Chris Carris, owner of the Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company.

During the latter part of 2002, Carris said, most of his sales were off an average of 6 to 12 percent.

"We got back on track by around December," he noted. "After the holidays, business usually evens out. It's dependent on the relations of good service, quality products and location."

Carris' business is to sell warm coffee to cold customers during the winter months. But how well does a merchant who sells cold products fare?

"Business was pretty slow in December and January," said Erin Carter, manager of the Willow Glen Frozen Yogurt Company. She noted that weather plays more of a role in the store's level of business than the economy's ability to dampen spirits.

"When it rains, it's dead around here," she said. "When it stops raining it takes people a couple of days to readjust, and then business gets back to normal."

Back to normal also means growth for the small yogurt shop at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Willow Street. After a long wait, the store's bringing in another serving machine, which will bring its daily selection of flavors from four up to six. Also, the store's investing in an espresso machine so it can serve Peet's coffee.

While the food service stores may be affected by the weather, other stores depend on seasonal events.

"Thank God we're doing well," said Ann Freese, co-owner of the High in the Sky gift store. "The community really supports us."

High in the Sky is gearing up for Valentine's Day by sprucing up the front window and taking orders for gift baskets. Freese adds that Valentine's Day and Christmas are when she is the busiest.

The store, which has stayed aloft for 10 years at its location between Minnesota and Brace avenues, relocated to Lincoln Avenue after spending years on Meridian Avenue.

"On Lincoln, it's more livelier and people spend more," Freese said.

Customers may spend more on Lincoln Avenue, but not as much in January compared to the holiday season.

"We get pretty slammed with business around Christmas," said Will Doud-Martin, an employee of Willow Glen Art & Frame. Part of December's business spills over into the first couple of weeks of January. It usually slows down through midyear but picks up again in the summer.

"People come in here looking for frames for their holiday pictures or they're just coming home from vacation and want to find something for their vacation photos," Doud-Martin said.

And although the economy is still lagging after the holidays, Hicklebee's bookstore seems more insulated than some of the other avenue merchants. The store has just announced that it will work its magic by sharing profits from the upcoming sales of J.K. Rowling's fifth Harry Potter book—scheduled to hit shelves in June. Schools designated by customers purchasing the book can choose between receiving 20 percent of the profit of the book's sale or 25 percent's worth of store credit.

"We do a lot of business with schools," said Monica Holmes, co-owner of Hicklebee's. "And they are getting hurt so drastically, so we try to help out in any way we can."

Cathy Adkins, owner of Willow Glen Books, said that business this month has been strong but not much better than in Januarys past. Adkins tries to spike her sales with events, such as with the new monthly poetry reading, during which established poets read their material. The last reading, on Jan. 20, which was a group reading by M.F.A. students from San José and San Francisco state universities, was one of the best-attended, Adkins said.

"That night brought in a lot of customers who normally wouldn't have come around here," she said.

But revenues for niche shops have been fickle, said Park Place Vintage owner Linda Waltrip. Her shop specializes in 1950s collectibles, furniture and clothing.

"It's really been up and down," Waltrip said. "January is normally slow, but this year it's just random days when it's really busy or so slow I can take the time to walk around and clean the store."

So far the new year under a slumping economy has merchants keeping a close eye on revenues, and that's a good business practice, said Casa Casa co-owner Nancy Biagini, who established the interior furnishings store on the avenue with her two daughters, Meg Picanco and Katie Goforth.

"To be a good business, you need to always be concerned," Biagini said.

And to her, being concerned involves thinking ahead.

"We have the same amount of business as we had last year," Biagini said, "but to get that business we had to have special sales and mark merchandise down."