• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, June 1, 2007

Father's Day--long considered a kind of gag-gift afterthought to Mother's Day--is getting serious.

The National Retail Federation predicts that this year Americans will shell out $9.9 billion for Father's Day, which is June 17, and that the average person will spend $98.34 on the holiday, up from $88.80 last year.

Greeting cards, as ever, are the most popular way of marking the day, making it the fourth-biggest day for the greeting card business. And 42.7% will take Pop out for a meal.

About 37% will surprise Dad with some kind of apparel, including the time-honored traditions of neckties and ridiculous T-shirts. And another 29.9% plan to give gift certificates or gift cards, followed by consumer electronics or computer-related accessories (17.8%). Toshiba, for example, has a big Father's Day push on its HD DVD line.

But since tools rule (some 13.6% plan to buy Dad a tool or appliance, and 12.4% say they intend to buy him home improvement or gardening tools), it's no surprise that stores like Ace Hardware, Home Depot, and Lowe's are revamping their Web sites three weeks before the big day.

All three companies are already starring Dad on their home Web pages, and each links users straight to a Father's Day gift guide. At homedepot.com, for example, users can click on choices like "Weekend Warrior Dad," "Gadget Dad" and "Has-Everything Dad."