CHICAGO - November 29, 2006 - ShopperTrak RCT Corporation's National Retail Sales Estimate today reported that the first full weekend of the 2006 holiday shopping season truly started the season off merry and bright for retailers as sales increased a steady 2.8 percent for the full Black Friday weekend as compared to the same three-day period last year.

While Black Friday promotions helped boost the day's performance, which totaled $8.96 billion, sales leveled off on Saturday ($5.7 billion) and Sunday ($3.44 billion) as the excitement of these discounts did not carry throughout the weekend. Nevertheless, total sales during the three-day holiday weekend totaled an impressive $18.1 billion.

"Retailers experienced more of a consumer outpouring than we anticipated on Black Friday, but it appears both Saturday and Sunday began to trend more towards the sales performance we expected heading into the 2006 holiday shopping season as Friday's heavy promotional excitement wore off," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak. "Although Saturday and Sunday began to flatten a bit, the 2.8 percent weekend increase is a very solid start to the season, especially when you factor in the extra Saturday between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2006 which allows shoppers to spend later this season."

Additionally, it appears the weekend's traffic patterns closely corresponded to sales performance as ShopperTrak's Retail Traffic Index (SRTI) reported weekend traffic slipped a marginal 0.5 percent for the same three-day period as compared to 2005. Friday's strength was reflected with a 6.1 percent traffic increase over 2005, with Saturday's total U.S. foot traffic then falling 6.4 percent.

"Black Friday traffic was impressive and strongly resembled retail sales as shoppers were lured early by door buster deals, then began to stay home as promotions slowed on Saturday and Sunday," said Martin. "We expect both traffic and sales to peak late in the season when consumers should do the bulk of their holiday shopping this year."

ShopperTrak also reported that sales for the week ending November 25 as compared to the same period in 2005 were up a steady 3.5 percent. On a week-over-week comparison, sales rose 20.5 percent as compared to the previous week ending November 18. To-date, average weekly sales for November versus last year are up 4.8 percent.

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.

The ShopperTrak Retail Traffic Index™ measures traffic across six separate retail segments including total U.S. retailing. Available as a database or in newsletter format, SRTI reports national and regional traffic trends in a rolling 16 month trend line.

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. For more information visit 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), Retail Traffic Index (SRTI) and ShopperTrak RCT Corporation as the supplier of the information. Please contact Aaron Martin at 312-943-9100 if you have any questions concerning the use of this data.