CHICAGO – November 28, 2005 – ShopperTrak RCT Corporation's National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE) today reported that the 2005 holiday retail season got off to a rather flat start as retail sales for the season's first two days dipped a slight 0.5 percent as compared to the same two-day period in 2004. Combined Black Friday and Black Saturday sales totaled $13.41 billion versus the $13.48 billion posted in 2004, with each day posting total sales of $8 billion and $5.4 billion respectively.

While the beginning of this year's shopping season appears rather sluggish, the numbers may be misleading as heavy discounting possibly hampered the pace of sales throughout the country over the Thanksgiving weekend. Additionally, some consumers may be taking advantage of the extra Saturday this holiday season and beginning their shopping later in holiday season as compared to the prior year.

"It's seems safe to say that the flat performance we saw this weekend is not necessarily going to be indicative of the holiday season as a whole, as traditionally Thanksgiving weekend is not a bellwether of consumer spending throughout the entire season," said Michael Niemira, chief economist and director of research for the International Council of Shopping Centers. "Although some discounting may have slowed the early pace of sales, the industry can expect to see much healthier sales patterns as we move into December and closer to both Christmas and the annually strong Saturday before Christmas retail boom."

Developed by ShopperTrak, the NRSE provides a nationwide benchmark of retail sales. It is derived from the U.S. Commerce Department's GAFO (general merchandise, apparel, furniture, sporting goods, electronics, hobby, books and other related store sales) statistic, as well as ShopperTrak's proprietary industry intelligence on shopper movement and sales statistics. This gives retailers, investors and policy makers the most accurate and timely information on consumer trends available today.

A privately held entity, ShopperTrak leverages 20 years of retail expertise to be the industry's authority for information and analysis of the movement of shoppers in retail environments. ShopperTrak's cutting-edge shopper tracking products and indices offer retail intelligence solutions that enable companies to better understand retail trends and the impact of store and staff performance on company revenues. With more than 45,000 units installed in the world's best known retail outlets and malls, the company's solutions also provide a proven means for retailers to gauge labor efficiencies, advertising and marketing efforts, store design and remodeling programs, merchandise changes, associate training programs, and other budget-intensive strategic initiatives. http://www.shoppertrak.com

EDITOR'S NOTE: The data contained within this news release is the property of ShopperTrak RCT Corporation and may be reprinted, published or broadcast, provided proper credit is given to the National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE) and ShopperTrak RCT Corporation as the supplier of the information. Please contact Aaron Martin at 773.505.4325 if you have any questions concerning the use of this data.