2009-11-30 21:20:56 -

Telsey Advisory Group LLC, (TAG), an independent equity research and consulting firm founded by veteran Wall Street retail analyst Dana Telsey, today released its annual Black Friday Holiday report. Gathered through its unique channel checking effort, TAG noted high traffic and solid conversion, offset by lower average price points which likely resulted in a slight increase in total sales for

the Black Friday weekend, traditionally the official start of the holiday shopping season.

The TAG 2009 Black Friday channel checking effort consisted of 20 in-house retail analysts visiting over 200 stores across ten states, grading retailers on a variety of metrics including traffic, pricing/ promotional activity, store presentation, and customer service. TAG reported the following key Black Friday observations.



- Retailers with the heaviest traffic, by category:

Discount: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., followed by Target Corporation
- Electronics: Best Buy Co., followed by GameStop Corp.


- Specialty: Aeropostale, Inc., followed by Bath & Body Works, Victoria’s Secret and Old Navy
- Department Stores: J.C. Penney Company, Inc., followed by Kohl’s Corporation and Macy’s, Inc.
- Luxury: Tiffany & Co

- Improved inventory control: TAG noted that retailers significantly reduced inventories vs. last year across all categories.


- The next five weeks are decidedly important for retailers.

“Our one-of-a-kind channel checking product provides real-time insights into consumer shopping trends, allowing TAG to form the most comprehensive and accurate Black Friday analysis,” said Dana Telsey, CEO and Chief Research Officer, Telsey Advisory Group. “Based on our analysis this past weekend, we continue to expect holiday sales this season to be flat to slightly improved over last year.”

ABOUT TELSEY ADVISORY GROUP


Telsey Advisory Group LLC, (TAG), is an independent research and consulting firm founded by leading retail industry analyst, Dana Telsey.

Specializing in the consumer space, TAG’s unique ability to evaluate and assess the retail and general consumer market is based on comprehensive research that combines in-depth company and industry analysis, store tours, consumer purchasing behavior, and executive management discussions. With the scale of a large research department, coupled with the objectivity of an independent firm, TAG is uniquely positioned to provide clients with the detailed analysis and market context that is necessary to make intelligent investment decisions. TAG covers companies in the broad lines, hard lines, luxury goods, specialty stores, restaurants, grocery stores, gaming and lodging sectors. For more information on Telsey Advisory Group, visit the Company’s website at www.telseygroup.com : .



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