UPDATE 1-Thanksgiving weekend sales up 1.6 pct-ShopperTrak

Published: 02 Dec 2009 17:22:32 PST

* Thanksgiving weekend sales up 1.6 pct; yr ago up 0.9 pct

* Store traffic down 1.1 pct

CHICAGO, Dec 2 - Sales at U.S. retailers rose an estimated 1.6 percent during the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend, the start to the key holiday shopping season, according to ShopperTrak, a private firm that monitors such data.

The sales increase compares to a 0.9 percent increase in the 2008 period, which was hit by a deepening recession and a credit crunch.

The data are in line with other reports that showed a slow start to the 2009 holiday shopping season, which pressured retail stocks earlier this week. ID:nN30447994 Investors will get a better look at November sales and expectations for December when many retailers release monthly sales on Wednesday and Thursday. ID:nN01495282

Store traffic fell 1.1 percent from a year earlier, ShopperTrak said. But as traffic in stores fell, online traffic was seen stronger as more retailers pushed deals online even before Thanksgiving. ID:nN30467364

Total sales for Friday, Saturday and Sunday were $20.50 billion, ShopperTrak estimated.

"The bottom line is retailers saw a slight sales increase with a minimal traffic decrease, both of which are tremendous improvements over sales and traffic levels we saw throughout 2009 prior to the holidays," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak.

"But, while this weekend is a bit encouraging, we're still comparing to what turned out to be the worst holiday season we've ever measured." (Reporting by Brad Dorfman, editing by Dave Zimmerman) ((bradley.dorfman@thomsonreuters.com; +1 312 408 8133; Reuters Messaging: bradley.dorfman.reuters.com@reuters.net; )) (