Nintendo sets, Ghostbuster items, jewlery and traditional Christmas gifts are topping off wish lists for area residents this season, according to DeKalb and Sycamore store owners.

Local store owners said toys are selling exceptionally well.

Jerry Tombleson, manager of Wal-Mart, 2500 Sycamore Road, said “anything Ghostbusters” is selling well. He said toy sales have been steady this year.

Marge Smith, assistant merchandise manager at K-Mart, 2700 DeKalb Ave., Sycamore, also said the Ghostbuster merchandise is high in demand. “Everyone wants Ghostbusters,” she said.

Smith said Nintendo is the best selling item in the store at this point in the season.

“Keyboards (sales) were fantastic last year, but they have died down this year,” Smith said.

A variety of gifts for adults are in demand this season.

At the Holmes Student Center Bookstore the wives and husbands of many NIU alumni have been ordering class rings for their spouses, said employee Margo Palmere.

The bookstore also has been selling a lot of Christmas music, Hallmark items and “tons of candy for Secret Santas,” she said.

The Village Commons Bookstore, 901 Lucinda Ave., also is doing well in sales this Christmas season.

“Christmas is in the air at the VCB,” said Mary Ann Best, gifts buyer at VCB. Best said a large variety of items are doing well in sales, including clothes, stuffed animals, cards and posters. “Our Greek department is blooming,” she said.

Cotton sweaters are a traditional gift idea that is selling well for males and females.

According to Lance Hansen, owner of Lansirs, 112 E. Lincoln Hwy., sweaters have been selling very well, and cotton is the most requested fabric.

Hansen said sales in general are good. He said it is too early in the season to determine which are the most requested Christmas items. “There isn’t an area that isn’t selling,” he said. Sock sales are good and Lansirs also is selling “new exciting neckwear for men,” he said.

Tombleson said Wal-Mart is selling a lot of Epilady shavers for women. Tools, the best selling men’s gifts, often are purchased, he said.

As usual at this time of year, diamond jewelry is a popular gift item, said Joan McAdoo, store manager of Gold Eagle Wholesale Jewelry, 124 E. Lincoln Hwy.

Genuine birthstone jewelry and 14-karat gold chains are high in demand at Gold Eagle. “Blue topaz and aquamarines always sell real well this time of year,” she said.

Herringbone and rope 14-karat gold chains are the most requested styles, she said. There has been such a rush on the chains that it has been difficult keeping the rope chains in supply, McAdoo added.

She said the store shys away from stocking “trendy” merchandise and sells mostly classic jewelry pieces.

Antiques also are a popular gift item this Christmas season. Jean Larkin, owner of Storeybook Antiques, 1325 E. State St., Sycamore, said her shop sells a lot of old books. Larkin said antique children’s books are the best-selling item in her store.