An Iowa State retail economist says this holiday shopping season may turn out even nicer than he’d originally predicted. I-S-U economist Ken Stone had predicted Iowa retailers would see a four percent jump in holiday sales compared to 2002, but he’s now concerned “that may be a little bit low.”Stone says so many economists wait for all the “official” reports to go out, but he looks at things like windshield surveys and goes to stores to see how crowded they are and what people are buying.Stone says he went shopping the day after Thanksgiving and could hardly get in and out of stores. He says that proved to him “the recovery was real.” Stone says eventually the official statistics will catch up and show it.
