Washington, November 20, 2007 – With Black Friday fast approaching, retailers are bracing for one of their busiest weekends of the year and consumers are putting finishing touches on their shopping lists. According to the latest survey conducted by BIGresearch for the National Retail Federation, up to 132.9 million Americans will shop Friday, Saturday or Sunday this weekend.

While 55.1 million people said they definitely plan to shop this weekend, 77.8 million said they may shop. Many of this year’s post-Thanksgiving shoppers will be young adults 18-24, as nearly half of them (47.2%) said they definitely plan to shop the weekend after Thanksgiving.

“Though some people incorporate holiday shopping into their Thanksgiving traditions, others wait to see how good the deals are before they set their alarm clocks for Friday morning,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “Retailers know that customers are looking for good values this holiday season and many will be offering prices and promotions that are too good to pass up.”

Key NRF spokespeople will be available for comment on Black Friday (November 23) and throughout the weekend (November 23-25). NRF will also be releasing a statement from its President and CEO Tracy Mullin on Friday at noon EST, announcing preliminary and anecdotal shopping results from Black Friday.

In addition, NRF will release the results of its Black Friday weekend retail survey by 4:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, November 25. Information will include what time people started shopping, where they shopped, how much they spent, and what they bought. NRF will also be releasing findings from a new survey on the number of people expected to shop on Cyber Monday (November 26).

NRF’s offices will be closed on Black Friday and over the weekend, so please use the public relations team’s direct lines to set up print and broadcast interviews with NRF spokespeople as follow:

- Kathy Grannis at (202) 626-8189 or cell (202) 821-7513 or grannisk@nrf.com
- Ellen Davis at (202) 626-8127 or cell (202) 222-8818 or davise@nrf.com
- Scott Krugman at (202) 626-8119 or cell (202) 299-6721 or krugmans@nrf.com

The National Retail Federation is the world's largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry's key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.6 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 24 million employees - about one in five American workers - and 2006 sales of $4.7 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations. www.nrf.com.