Shanghai Daily: Business - shanghaidaily.com
UNITED States retailers had a robust start to the holiday shopping season, according to results announced by a national research group that tracks sales across the country. According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp, which tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets, total sales rose 8.3 percent to about US$10.3 billion on Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday, compared with US$9.5 billion on the same day a year ago. ShopperTrak had expected an increase of no more than four to five percent. "This is a really strong number - you can't have a good season unless it starts well," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, on Saturday. "It's very encouraging. When you look at September and October, shoppers weren't in the stores." In a separate statement released on Saturday, JC Penney Co reported "strong performance across all merchandise categories," including jewelry, outerwear, and young men's and children's assortments. But the department