'Tis the season-Will registers jingle all the way?

Rising gasoline prices. Escalating healthcare costs. Continued unemployment. The ongoing war in Iraq. These factors could dampen holiday sales figures. Pharmacies are still optimistic that folks will deck the halls with gifts plucked from drugstores' shelves. Results from the annual Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) offer hope that customers will indeed make cash registers jingle in 2004.