Report on 2009 "Main Street" Black Friday Card Sales Shows Increase

Same Store Report Shows Year-Over-Year Gains in Levels of Credit and Debit Card Use During Opening Weekend of Holiday Shopping Season for Small Retailers and Restaurants

 | Source: Capital Access Network Capital Access Network

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - December 3, 2009) - Main Street merchandise retailers experienced a pickup in credit and debit card sales this Black Friday period as same store card sales rose 0.95% from the same period a year ago, according to Capital Access Network, Inc.'s Data Services Division (CAN-DSD). While reports from "Big-Box" retailers followed by Wall Street investors continue to be released, CAN-DSD reported that smaller, independent retailers as well as restaurants saw card sales for the post-Thanksgiving Black Friday period increase. The findings were released in the "Black Friday on Main Street" Special Issue of CAN-DSD's Small Business Credit Sales (SBCS) Report, giving hope to Main Street businesses that they might see pickup in overall sales during the crucial year-end holiday retailing season.

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS: 

1.  Merchandise Retailers (such as jewelers, boutiques, toy stores,
    clothing stores, electronics retailers, sporting goods stores,
    gift shops, etc.) saw their same store credit and debit card sales
    climb 0.95% in 2009 over the 2008 Black Friday period.

2.  Restaurants also showed gains during the 2009 Black Friday period,
    enjoying a 4.06% lift in 2009 Black Friday period card sales as
    compared to the same period in 2008.
       Spotlight: Quick Serve and Mid-Priced Restaurants with a smaller
       average ticket size (less than $50) demonstrated larger increases
       than their higher average ticket counterparts ($50 or greater).
       During the 2009 Black Friday period, restaurants with an average
       ticket size of less than $25 saw same store card sales increase by
       4.23% and restaurants with an average ticket size of $25 to $50 saw
       a 5.72% increase, in each case compared to the 2008 Black Friday
       period. Restaurants with an average ticket size of $50 to $100
       increased 0.88%, while restaurants with an average ticket size of
       greater than $100 increased 3.11% over the 2008 Black Friday period.

3.  When combined, the total of all Main Street small business categories
    experienced a gain of 5.74% during the 2009 Black Friday period over
    the same period in 2008. The very smallest of the businesses (less
    than $250,000 annual revenue) saw the biggest lift, with card sales
    up 16.98% over last year.   Compared to the 2008 Black Friday period,
    businesses with annual revenues of $250,000 to $500,000 saw a 13.44%
    increase in same store card sales in 2009; those with annual revenues
    of $500,000 to $1,000,000 experienced a 3.63% increase in same store
    card sales while those businesses with annual revenues of $1 million
    or more experienced a 4.34% increase in such sales.

"Our data show that Main Street experienced year-over-year increases this year," said Mark Lorimer, CAN's Chief Marketing Officer. "Not only were shoppers out buying in greater amounts than they did in 2008, but it seems they were also stopping for lunch or dinner more often and spending more in Main Street establishments. We are hopeful that the improvement we saw in comparable Main Street retail and restaurant card spending during this Black Friday period points to a promising holiday shopping season overall for the nation's smaller merchants," said Lorimer.

The "Black Friday on Main Street" Special Issue of the SBCS Report covers shopping trends and information from November 27-29, 2009, and highlights comparative same store sales data from the 2008 and 2009 Black Friday periods (defined as the Friday through Sunday after Thanksgiving). The complete report is available at http://www.CapitalAccessNetwork.com/Resources.html.

About the SBCS Report

The SBCS Report is published quarterly, based on CAN-DSD's tens-of-millions of data records collected by CAN subsidiaries over the past 11 years of providing leases, loans and Merchant Cash Advances to small and mid-sized merchants, and collecting the daily, weekly and monthly credit and debit volumes of those merchants nationwide. The SBCS Report features analysis of year-over-year same store credit and debit card sales trends drawn from data on more than 50,000 businesses housed in CAN-DSD's data warehouses. The businesses are U.S.-based, average less than $1 million in annual gross sales and less than $30,000 in average monthly card processing volume.

To receive the quarterly reports automatically via email, interested parties can sign up at http://www.CapitalAccessNetwork.com/Resources.html, or simply send an email to dnaczi@CapitalAccessNetwork.com.

About Capital Access Network, Inc.

Capital Access Network, Inc. (CAN) serves the small business market through its wholly owned subsidiaries, including AdvanceMe, Inc., the leader in Merchant Cash Advances. CAN leverages leading-edge data, systems and technology, married to a unique and highly effective collection methodology, to deliver innovative financial products and services geared to the small and mid-sized business markets. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in New York, CAN and its subsidiaries currently employ 300 people in four locations in New York, Georgia, Massachusetts and Costa Rica. CAN's Data Services Division provides predictive analytics, scoring and other risk management tools to help quantify, control or reduce the exposure of those providing capital or credit to small and mid-sized businesses and to improve the marketing efficiencies of those who target such businesses. Learn more at www.CapitalAccessNetwork.com.

Contact Information: MEDIA CONTACT: Carrie Crabill Trevelino/Keller Communications Group 404-214-0722 x102 ccrabill@trevelinokeller.com

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