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Chicago -- ShopperTrak reported Tuesday that it estimates retail foot traffic over the Black Weekend shopping period rose 8.2% year-over-year. That equates to more than 594 million store visits between Thursday and Monday.

Retail sales increased 2.7%, with shoppers spending about $22 billion across the weekend's four days. Thursday's "door-buster" deals drove sales and traffic earlier in the weekend.    

Chicago -- Consumers will shop more and visit more stores during the peak holiday shopping months of November and December, according to ShopperTrak, the world's largest counter and analyzer of retail foot traffic. Compared with the same period last year, national retail sales will rise 3.3% during November and December. Retail foot traffic will increase 2.8%.

Chicago -- A report released Tuesday by ShopperTrak revealed that December holiday sales remain flat year-over-year but are showing signs of growth in the days and weeks ahead. Double-digit increases in week-over-week sales show shoppers are spending this holiday season.

According to ShopperTrak, the week ending Dec. 10 saw a 10.6% increase in retail sales from the previous week, good tidings as retailers prepare for historically two of the highest GAFO sales weeks of the year for retailers.

Chicago -- Up to 60% more shoppers will enter stores on Dec. 26 than on the same day last year, according to ShopperTrak, the world's largest provider of retail and mall foot traffic counting services. The reason for the increase is due to the calendar: Shoppers will come out in full force on the day after Christmas because it falls on a Monday for the first time in six years. That day will rank third in foot traffic for the holiday shopping season, surpassed only by Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and Super Saturday, the Saturday one week before Christmas.

Chicago -- Retail sales will rise 3% percent during November and December compared to the year-ago period, but foot traffic will decrease 2.2%, according to ShopperTrak.

ShopperTrak's holiday sales increase prediction follows 19 consecutive months of year-over-year U.S. retail sales growth. The expected increase is moderate compared with the 2010 holiday season's 4.1% sales increase over 2009.

Chicago -- Total GAFO retail sales for Christmas week (week ending Dec. 25) slipped 4.1% compared with last year, while the company’s retail traffic index (SRTI) reported a 6.8% total U.S. foot traffic decline for the same period, according to ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE). The 2010 calendar shift that placed Dec. 26 on a Sunday as opposed to a Saturday last year had the greatest impact on overall performance.