This might be a good Holiday Shopping season--for a slightly surprising reason

Retailers are cautiously optimistic that this year might be the best Christmas shopping season in several recent years.

The National Retail Federation says it expects sales in November and December (excluding autos, gas and restaurant sales) to increase a healthy 4.1 percent, while Deloitte predicts a retail sales increase between 4 percent and 4.5 percent from November through January.  Both forecasts are a significant improvement over the performance of holiday sales during the last ten years, which on average have grown 2.9 percent per year.

Yes, the economy is improving and unemployment is slightly lower, but analysts say one factor playing a role in people planning to buy more presents this year is--gas prices.

Walmart just announced an improvement in same store sales during the August-October quarter--and cited lower gas prices as the reason.  Gas prices aren't the biggest item in most people's budgets, but they are one of the most visible.

Gas prices have dropped from $3.30 a gallon in Decorah several months ago to a uniform $2.79 a gallon this week.  Analysts say further drops in price might be coming.

That makes consumers feel like they have more money in their wallet--and that could produce a good Christmas shopping season in Decorah this year.