An employee stocks bottles of wine at a Whole Foods Market in Dublin, Ohio, on Nov. 7. A 0.3% rise in retail sales last month after a September drop bodes well for a strong holiday shopping season Retail sales bounced back last month after a disappointing September drop, providing positive consumer-spending momentum heading into the holiday shopping season. Lower gasoline prices helped put consumers in the spending mood, said Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist at the National Retail Federation.