Corporate Research International Reveals Best Customer Service

FINDLAY, OH--(Marketwire - July 23, 2008) - Corporate Research International released today the second quarter 2008 results of RealPeopleRatings.com™, its quarterly customer service survey that illustrates the importance of brand image and customer perception. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Olive Garden, Papa Murphy's Take 'n' Bake Pizza, Speedway, Nordstrom, Stride Rite, Ace Hardware, Office Depot, Dick's Sporting Goods, Publix, Walgreens, Southwest Airlines, Credit Unions, Best Buy and Marriott earned the highest marks in their categories this quarter.

RealPeopleRatings.com™ was launched in 2005 by Corporate Research International, a market research firm specializing in mystery shopping and customer satisfaction surveys. The company sends the quarterly surveys as online opinion polls to its pool of panelists; 1,389 panelists participated in this quarter's survey.

Respondents were asked to rate their perception of each business's customer service on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest rating. If a respondent did not have experience with the business, the panelist did not enter a score for that establishment.

"Companies with consistently high ratings are focused on all customer touch points," said Michael Mallett, CEO of Corporate Research International. "Every interaction customers have with a business impacts overall perception, so an ongoing effort to maintain all areas keeps scores high. Looking at the customer experience from all angles is ultimately what keeps customers coming back."

Category Winners:

Fast Food Restaurants
Chipotle Mexican Grill
SUBWAY
Sonic

Full-service Restaurants
Olive Garden
Texas Roadhouse
Longhorn

Pizza Restaurants
Papa Murphy's Take 'n' Bake Pizza
CiCi's Pizza
Papa John's

Convenience Stores
Speedway
BP
Shell

Office Supply Stores
Office Depot
Staples
FedEx Kinko's

Department Stores
Nordstrom
Saks Fifth Avenue
Bloomingdale's

Shoe Stores
Stride Rite
Aldo
Journeys

Home Improvement Stores
Ace Hardware
True Value
Lowe's

Supermarkets
Publix
Kroger
Safeway

Sporting Goods Stores
Dick's Sporting Goods
Hibbett Sports
Foot Locker

Drug Stores
Walgreens
CVS
Rite Aid

Electronics Stores
Best Buy
RadioShack
Circuit City

Banks
Credit Unions
Washington Mutual
Wachovia

Hotels
Marriott
Hyatt
Hilton

Airlines
Southwest
JetBlue
Delta

For a complete list of scores and rankings, contact Caroline Golon at 614-678-9565 or cgolon@paulwerth.com.

Quarterly Survey Methodology

Survey respondents represented all regions of the country and completed only one survey each. Respondents spanned all ages, household incomes, education levels, and ethnicity.

The scores reflect the mean score, which is an average of the sum of each score divided by the total number of observations.

About Corporate Research International

Corporate Research International (CRI) specializes in mystery shopping services and interactive customer voice and Web response surveys. The company tracks trends of quality service and appearance, providing information to help businesses retain happy, loyal customers. CRI was named to the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies in 2005 and 2006. For more information visit www.corpri.com

Contact Information: Contact: Caroline Golon Paul Werth Associates (614) 678-9565