December web sales: Sharper Image, down 22%; Best Buy, Circuit City, up 30%

December Internet sales at Sharper Image Corp. fell 22% year-over-year to $21.2 million from $27.2 million, as total sales declined 22% to $117.7 million and comp store sales, or sales at stores open for at least one year, dropped 20%, the retailer says.

Sharper Image, No. 87 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, also reports that total December store sales dropped 18% to $86.7 million from $106.2 million, as total catalog/direct marketing (non-web) sales, including wholesale operations, fell 42% year-over-year to $9.8 million from $16.9 million. Sharper Image’s direct marketing sales include TV infomercials.

Web sales for the 11 months ended Dec. 31 were $78.4 million, down 20% from the year-ago period, as total sales fell 21% to $609.5 million, total store sales fell 24% to $293.5 million, and comp store sales decreased 26%. Total catalog/direct marketing sales for the 11 months fell 16% to $107.4 million. Sharper Image’s current fiscal year ends Jan. 31, 2007.

Without reporting dollar numbers, Best Buy Co. Inc. reports that December web sales were up 33% from the year earlier; Circuit Stores Inc. reports that web sales in December were up 31%.