Retail Ventures, Inc. total sales for December increased 6.2% to $386.8 million from $364.4 million for the five weeks ended January 1, 2005. The company's same store sales increased 3.2% for the five week period.

Total sales for the forty-eight weeks ended December 31, 2005 increased 6.1% to $2.76 billion from $2.60 billion for the forty-eight weeks ended January 1, 2005. The company's same store sales increased 0.2% for the forty- eight week period.

Retail sales statistics are as follows:

                                         Five weeks ended ($ in thousands)
                                       December 31, 2005    January 1, 2005*
                                          $           %         $       %
    Total Sales
      Value City Department Stores    $217,806       56.3   $219,794   60.3
      DSW                              114,298       29.6     94,717   26.0
      Filene's Basement                 54,695       14.1     49,853   13.7
                                      $386,799      100.0   $364,364  100.0
    Comparable Sales Percentage
      Value City Department Stores                   (0.2)%            (2.4)%
      DSW                                             9.9 %             4.0 %
      Filene's Basement                               7.8 %             0.6 %
                                                      3.2 %            (0.7)%

                                      Forty-eight weeks ended ($ in thousands)
                                       December 31, 2005     January 1, 2005*
                                           $           %          $       %
    Total Sales
      Value City Department Stores  $1,317,221     47.7    $1,370,497   52.7
      DSW                            1,072,485     38.9       902,921   34.7
      Filene's Basement                370,518     13.4       327,580   12.6
                                    $2,760,224    100.0    $2,600,998  100.0
    Comparable Sales Percentage
      Value City Department Stores                 (3.3)%               (5.0)%
      DSW                                           5.1 %                4.5 %
      Filene's Basement                             3.1 %                5.1 %
                                                    0.2 %               (1.2)%
    *Business segments were realigned at the beginning of fiscal 2005 to
     reflect how the company establishes strategic goals and manages the
     business. The realignment resulted in the Filene's Basement shoe business
     being included within the DSW segment.  The fiscal 2004 presentation has
     been restated to conform with this realignment.

Retail Ventures, Inc. is a leading off-price retailer currently operating 114 Value City Department Stores in the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and southeastern U.S., 27 Filene's Basement Stores in the Northeast and 199 better-branded DSW stores in major metropolitan areas throughout the country. DSW also supplies, under supply arrangements, to 213 locations for other non-related retailers in the United States.