It may not be all doom and gloom in the U.S. retail sector this holiday, according to one retail consulting firm.

Customer Growth Partners is expecting 5.0 percent to 5.4 percent annual growth for the holidays, in line with average growth rates of the past decade. 

The forecast compared with the National Retail Federation, which is expecting holiday sales to rise  4 percent to $474.5 billion – marking the slowest holiday sales growth since 2002.

“As we said after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, when gasoline prices rose well above $3/gallon, Americans are far more resilient that the experts expect,” said CGP president Craig Johnson, “And just as sales rose 7 percent at holiday 2005 despite Wall Street expectations of a low-growth Christmas, 2007 will see over 5 percent holiday sales growth, held down only by a stubborn housing slump.”

He is expecting it to be a “Tech Christmas” with strong demand for Apple products and the Nintendo Wii.

“Apple is today’s leading fashion icon,” Johnson said.  “The ‘It’ items this year are not handbags but iPhones and Wii’s.” 

(Photo: Reuters)