Stores plan for ho-ho-hum holidays -- and a semi-happy new year

Another day, and another group of retail experts has forecast that this year's holiday shopping will get a C grade -- a so-so showing with extra points for effort. And that could be a taste of what shopping will be like in 2010.

Things are looking a little better than they did even a week ago, but overall the store displays will look lackluster this year, said the experts. Thanks to new technologies, retailers have become much better at managing inventory to get it just right and there are no must-haves this holiday season, so don't expect hand-to-hand combat for the last item on the shelf.