CHICAGO, IL, December 15, 2009 – ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate™ (NRSE) today reported that year-over-year GAFO retail sales rose 1.1 percent for the week ending December 12 while sales increased a strong 18.2 percent versus the previous week ending December 5.

GAFO retail sales showed improvement last week as holiday promotions resurfaced more prevalently following the post Black Friday weekend spending lull. Additionally ShopperTrak reported late gift buying for Chanukah most likely helped boost sales late last week.

“We expected to see a retail sales surge last week as some Chanukah spending took place and smart retailers pushed various sales and promotions as Super Saturday – or the last Saturday before Christmas – approaches,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak. “GAFO retail sales should continue this upward trend leading into Christmas and we anticipate Super Saturday will fall just behind Black Friday in total dollars spent, with the full Super Saturday weekend representing the highest level of sales for any weekend this holiday season.”

For ShopperTrak’s full holiday 2009 analysis, please visit ShopperTrak’s newly designed Website, www.shoppertrak.com.

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 50,000 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), the ShopperTrak Retail Traffic Index 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.
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