Cash-strapped consumers might not be hitting the malls with the same gusto they did pre-recession, but an expected uptick in food and beverage sales is likely to salvage the 2009 holiday shopping season, according to new research from Los Angeles-based research firm IBISWorld.

"The recession has caused people to go back to family values as opposed to simply buying presents," IBISWorld Senior Analyst Toon van Beeck explained. "Consumers just don't have the money to fork out on unnecessary gif...