Guest Contributors

Explore how Dutch Bros and Dave’s Hot Chicken showcase two stages of restaurant growth, from explosive expansion to disciplined scaling and strategic maturity.

Lululemon is outperforming in a challenging retail environment, with monthly visits climbing through fall and Black Friday delivering a substantial traffic surge. Early holiday momentum suggests the brand is positioned to capture share and drive strong year-end performance.

Early November momentum and a 3.1% surge on Black Friday offset a softer weekend, driving overall visits up YoY across the three mall formats. 

Black Friday 2025 foot traffic trends show a holiday season defined by value-driven decisions, regional price sensitivity, and shifts toward budget-conscious categories. Longer in-store visits and standout gains for convenient, low-ticket coffee chains highlight shoppers’ deliberate, mission-focused approach to spending.

Holiday dining patterns highlight upscale and fine-dining restaurants as the strongest seasonal performers, with coffee, casual dining, and eatertainment showing targeted lifts. Emerging YoY trends point to premium full-service concepts leading demand again this December.

Thanksgiving brought a healthy rise in movie theater traffic while still trailing 2024’s exceptional highs. The gap points to a growing reality in the theatrical space: In 2025, audiences show up strongest when franchises – and preferably, multiple franchises at once – lead the way.

Darden is heading into the holiday season with accelerating visit growth across its portfolio. Olive Garden, LongHorn, and Cheddar’s continue to deliver strong same-restaurant gains, while upscale banners like Seasons 52 and Ruth’s Chris are positioned for another robust holiday surge based on early 2025 trends.

Turkey Wednesday 2025 drove major traffic to grocery stores, with traditional supermarkets seeing the biggest visit spikes, while value chains led early-week shopping. Dwell times showed a shift from early stock-up trips to quick last-minute runs, and all analyzed major grocers posted year-over-year visit growth.