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Holiday Shopping Forecast: Sports Gear A Hot Item

BOSTON (CBS) -- The holiday shopping season is about to hit a frenzied pace, and one of the hot items this year will be high end sports gear.

Lauren Blanda of City Sports showed us some of the new items available this year. There is an emphasis on style as well as function because both men and women want to wear workout clothes all day long.

"The trend that we saw with premium denim over the last several years, where people were willing to pay $150-200 dollars for a pair of designer jeans, now we've seen that trend with yoga pants," explained Blanda.

Another trend this year will be big sales and deep discounts. Analyst Ken Perkins of Retail Metrics in Swampscott is expecting plenty of coupons and promotions this year, particularly for clothes.

"Tons of promotions," emphasized Perkins. "We've already seen them with the warm weather in October really hurting fall apparel sales, and there have been a ton of sales throughout the mall already."

It might be tough to find a good markdown on portable exercise monitoring equipment, like a Fitbit, however. 30% more units have shipped out this year, but the demand is high. Many now link directly to a smartphone.

John Kelly of City Sports said these can be a gift for someone who exercises on a casual basis, or "someone who is extremely into decathlons or triathlons."

In general, store shelves should be better stocked than they were during the last several shopping seasons. Perkins said waiting for a price to come down can still be risky, however. "Inventory suggests that you want to buy earlier than later if you really want it."

Particularly hot this year will be anything that is "Frozen". "Toys, anything that is "Frozen" related, huge franchise for Disney, is going to be very popular," said Perkins.

One shopper told us she will be out on Black Friday because she really likes it.

But Black Friday has changed and is no longer the only time to snag a good bargain. Perkins added, "Heavy deals on Black Friday, no question about it. But I don't think that is the only time you are going to be able to get them."

Shoppers should get some help from falling gas prices, now about $3.00 a gallon. That's the lowest they've been since 2010 and will be put more money in shopper's pockets.

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