By Marlene Kennedy/For The Leader-Herald In the throes of midsummer’s blistering heat, what better time to think of Christmas sales. Or, more precisely, how consumers may behave during the 2023 winter holidays. That was the topic of a webinar this week, hosted by the trade publication Chain Store Age, sharing results of a shopper survey conducted by San Antonio-based marketing consultant Vericast. Rather than offering spending projections, which groups like the National Retail Federation do in late fall, the webinar was geared to advising retailers on how consumers are feeling, given still-high inflation and attempts to tame it that have…