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Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart in Las Vegas is an immersive entertainment experience that is sui generis and requires an in-person visit to truly understand this one-of-a-kind adventure. It’s a bit like an escape room, a bit of a psychedelic art show, with tongue-in-cheek humor and a satiric take on our consumerist tendencies. Make sure to keep an open mind when you visit and don’t be afraid to touch and feel the objects. In addition to Las Vegas, there are also locations in Denver “Convergence Station”, Grapevine “The Real Unreal”, and Santa Fe “House of Eternal Return”, with Houston opening in 2024.
When we look at participants from Las Vegas, Denver, and Grapevine, per Spatial.ai Followgraph, they have a higher propensity for being enthusiasts about Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Electric Vehicles, Celebrity Entrepreneurs, Mental Health Advocates, and Athleisure. They are more likely than average to Chase Credit Card Rewards, Invest in Real Estate, eat Mexican Food, and Love BBQ.
The segments they come from are varied, per Spatial.ai PersonaLive. Las Vegas tends to attract the most Near-Urban Diverse Families, followed by Young Professionals. Nearly 1 in 5 at the Denver location are Young Professionals, as are 14.1% in Grapevine.
Those visiting the Denver location stay the longest, with a median dwell time of 120 minutes. Santa Fe is next at 109 minutes.
As the experience economy evolves, the options for fun continue to grow. Here at the Anchor, we’ve delved into eatertainment, bowling, rock climbing, pickleball, mini-golf, driving ranges, and more. Enter Axe Throwing. It’s the type of activity you’ll often see on some of those reality dating shows, but upon closer inspection, it’s also come into a league of its own, and with technology allowing one to project targets onto the cork board, the ante is upped with a variety of games available. The International Axe Throwing Federation has over 20,000 members in 9 countries, pointing to the popularity of this sport worldwide. Here in the US, two large chains include Bad Axe Throwing and Bury the Hatchet.
Of all the predictions about what would be the prevailing retail trends in 2024, an uncharacteristic cold snap wasn’t on anyone’s radar. But so far this year, extreme weather has had a major impact on consumer behavior in a host of retail categories. How big an influence have drastic conditions had on foot traffic and what visit patterns are emerging as temperatures thaw? We dove into the latest location analytics to find out.
A powerful Arctic blast gripped a large portion of the continental U.S. in January 2024. And along with other disastrous consequences, the chill caused many consumers to stay indoors – resulting in a decline in overall retail visits.
Although retail foot traffic the week of January 8th, 2024 was almost in line with 2023 levels – likely due to a flux of consumers stocking up on essentials – the week of January 15th saw the overall retail visits gap widen to 2.9% year-over-year (YoY) as the storm expanded its grip on the country.
The worst of the cold abated in late January 2024, and consumers appeared to be out and about again – catching up on errands and making up for time spent cooped up at home. Overall retail visits picked up steam the week of January 22nd, 2024 and sustained positive YoY growth through February.
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Zooming in on retail foot traffic by state revealed the scope of the storm’s impact on visits nationwide. Generally, states that bore the brunt of the cold blast saw the widest YoY retail visits gaps. And although perennial cold weather regions were not spared from the unusual cold spell, consumers in the often frigid Upper Midwest and Northeast may have been more acclimated to the cold and therefore able to maintain somewhat normal shopping routines.
In January 2024, Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, and Minnesota – along with Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire – all experienced YoY retail visit growth, despite the extreme weather. Meanwhile, foot traffic in much of the Midwest and South buckled under the abnormal conditions.
The resilience of the Upper Midwest and the Northeast was evident again as temperatures thawed. While winter weather was still prevalent in these parts, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine, and Vermont all cozied up to over 8.0% YoY retail visit growth in February 2024.
As was the case for retail foot traffic patterns as a whole, the cold snap took a toll on visits to the dining space early on in 2024. The data suggests that many consumers stayed home and cut back on dining out during the extreme storm. But as temperatures more or less normalized, restaurant-goers were eager to get back to their favorite dining hot spots.
Analysis of weekly foot traffic to the various dining categories in January and February 2024 once again showcased the industry’s resilience and the strength of discretionary spending as a whole.
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Diving into dining foot traffic on the state level provided further evidence that freezing conditions likely influenced the eating-out behavior of consumers.
Location analytics revealed that as storms raged in January 2024, southern and midwestern states – where consumers may have been caught off guard by the extreme weather – experienced the widest YoY dining visit gaps. Meanwhile, upper midwestern and northeastern states – where consumers are generally accustomed to harsher winters – produced dining traffic growth.
In February 2024 – as temperatures warmed – several states in the Upper Midwest and Northeast mustered exceptional increases in YoY dining visits. But notably, all of the continental U.S. saw YoY dining traffic growth during that month – further indication of the dining space’s ability to bounce back from adversity and the sustained demand for going out.
Which retail trends will prevail as 2024 progresses? Visit Placer.ai to find out.
This blog includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.0, which implements improvements to our extrapolation capabilities, adds short visit monitoring, and enhances visit detection.
With the first round of earning announcements in 2024 coming to a close, we dove into the foot traffic data to find out which companies are likely to surpass their 2023 performance in the coming year.
Following a challenging period and shifts in apparel consumer preferences hampering traffic, Gap’s performance is on the upswing. The company, which operates four iconic brands – Gap, Old Navy, Athleta, and Banana Republic – recently announced stronger-than-expected Q4 2023 results, driven by strong performances of the Gap and Old Navy brands.
Foot traffic data also points to a comeback. The Old Navy and Gap managed to maintain minimal year-over-year (YoY) visit gaps in 2023 despite the challenging retail environment, with Q4 visits – during the critical holiday season – down just 2.3% and 1.7% for the two brands, respectively.
Gap’s turnaround is likely helped by several C-suite personnel changes at the company. Last year, Gap Inc. brought in C.E.O. Richard Dickson from Mattel to revitalize the legacy brands, and Chris Blakeslee – previously at Alo Yoga – was chosen to lead the Athleta chain. And the company is continuing its series of high-profile hirings in 2024 with the appointment of designer Zac Posen as Creative Director of the company and Chief Creative Officer of the Old Navy banner. Should Gap continue on its current track, the company is well-positioned for a strong 2024.
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Monthly visits to The Cheesecake Factory fell YoY for much of last year, with the chain’s foot traffic regularly lagging behind the wider Restaurant category. But the gaps between the wider industry performance and visits to the brand began to narrow towards the end of the year, with The Cheesecake Factory beating out the overall Restaurant industry in terms of YoY traffic in December 2023. And although January 2024’s cold spell brought visits back down, foot traffic rose again in February 2024.
The chain has announced plans to expand its store count this year and intends to implement moderate price hikes to offset rising costs. And if the positive foot traffic trends continue alongside the company’s new unit openings and price increases, The Cheesecake Factory may well outpace its 2023 performance in 2024.
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The pet care sector thrived over the pandemic, as the combination of shelter-in-place orders, stimulus checks, and reduced spending channels drove consumers to shower their pets with love in the form of increased spending at pet stores. But the economic headwinds of the past two years led some shoppers to reduce their discretionary spending. Some consumers have gone as far as surrendering their pets in an effort to cut costs, with the tighter consumer budgets impacting visits to leading pet care retailers, including Petco. And to add to an already challenging situation, the pet care landscape has recently become even more competitive, with Walmart recently making more aggressive inroads into the space.
But Petco is fighting to stay on top, with the company continuing to invest in its veterinary program and optimize its product assortment to keep up with the changing preferences of 2024 consumers. And recent foot traffic data indicates that Petco’s strategy may be bearing fruit. Visits to Petco grew 1.8% and 4.0% YoY in November and December 2023, respectively – indicating that many pet owners still splurged on holiday gifts for their beloved pets and turned to Petco for the perfect treat or toy. And although January 2024’s unusual cold spell drove a visit lag, foot traffic quickly stabilized in February – indicating that the company should not be written off quite yet.
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For more retail and dining insights, visit our blog at placer.ai.
This blog includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.0, which implements improvements to our extrapolation capabilities, adds short visit monitoring, and enhances visit detection.
In February 2024 Placer.ai released two white papers: 10 Top Brands to Watch in 2024 and Q4 2023 Quarterly Index. Below is a taste of our findings. To read more data-driven consumer research, visit our library.
The Q4 2023 Quarterly Index white paper analyzed the foot traffic performance of the Fitness, Beauty & Self Care, Discount & Dollar Stores, Superstores, Grocery Stores, and Dining categories in 2023 and during last year’s all-important holiday shopping season.
Last year ended on a high note for many retailers, with cooling inflation and rebounding consumer confidence contributing to a robust holiday season. Still, 2023 was a year of headwinds for the sector, as consumers traded down and cut back on unnecessary indulgences.
In the midst of these challenges, some segments thrived. Continued prioritization of health and wellness by consumers drove strong visit growth for the Fitness and Beauty & Self Care segments – which emerged as 2023 winners and enjoyed positive foot traffic growth in Q4. At the same time, price consciousness drove foot traffic to Discount & Dollar Stores and Superstores, both of which made inroads into the affordable grocery space during the year.
The Grocery category, too, saw a 4.3% jump in visits last year compared to 2022, as well as a slight uptick in Q4 visits. And even the discretionary Dining sector held its own, with a 2.1% year-over-year (YoY) annual increase in foot traffic, and a Q4 quarterly visit gap of just 1.8%.
For a deeper dive into the Q4 2023 performance of these sectors, read the full report.
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The 10 Top Brands to Watch in 2024 white paper leveraged up-to-date location intelligence and consumer demographic insights to identify ten brands gearing up for growth in 2024 – one of which was Foxtrot Market.
Convenience stores have evolved into bona-fide dining destinations. And Foxtrot, a Chicago-based chain with 29 stores across Texas, Illinois, Washington, Maryland, and Virginia, is one of the brands redefining what a convenience store can be. The chain offers an upscale convenience store experience and is particularly known for including local brands in its product assortment as well as its excellent wine curation and dining options.
And location intelligence data indicates that Foxtrot knows its audience – visitors to the chain were significantly more likely to fall into AGS: Behavior & Attitudes dataset’s “Wine Drinker” or “Nutritionally Aware” segments than visitors to nearby convenience stores. The company plans to ramp up store openings, particularly in the suburbs, where convenience and a good bottle of wine might just find the perfect home as a welcome distraction from the daily grind.
To find out the other brands on the list, read the full report.
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For more data-driven consumer research, visit our library.
This blog includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.0, which implements improvements to our extrapolation capabilities, adds short visit monitoring, and enhances visit detection.
Discount and dollar stores flourished in 2022 and 2023, as rising prices led many shoppers to trade down and tighten their purse strings. Consumers flocked to dollar stores for everything from essential goods to discretionary items like toys and party supplies. And while some chains – including category leader Dollar General – were buoyed by their growing positioning as low-cost grocery venues, others found success by leaning into the affordable luxury space. Brands like Five Below, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, and pOpshelf (owned by Dollar General) grew their audiences by offering price-conscious consumers easy access to inexpensive non-necessities.
But how did these specialty discount retailers fare in the all-important fourth quarter of 2023 – and what does their early 2024 performance portend for the rest of the new year?
We dove into the data to find out.
Five Below, the bargain chain specializing in low-cost, recreational merchandise, wrapped up 2023 with a bang. Between September and December 2023, the brand saw year-over-year (YoY) monthly visit increases ranging from 14.6% to 22.1%. And while Five Below’s expanding store count has likely helped fuel this surge, the indulgence-oriented retailer is also attracting shoppers with a growing selection of “Five Beyond” products, priced above the chain’s traditional $5.00 ceiling. Last year, Five Below further cemented its status as a key holiday shopping destination – another factor driving its impressive Q4 2023 performance. And the discounter continued its winning streak into the new year, with strong performance in January and February 2024.
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet operates according to a somewhat different strategy – enticing shoppers with a broad selection of highly discounted name-brand merchandise. Ollie’s offerings include lower-ticket items like food and books, but also a wide range of premium products like electronics and home furnishings. And Ollie’s closeout buying model means that shoppers never know exactly what they’re going to find – turning each trip into something of a treasure hunt. Like Five Below, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet has expanded its physical presence in recent years – and the chain’s consistent positive YoY foot traffic growth highlights its continued appeal to today’s consumers.
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Dollar General’s pOpshelf concept – launched in late 2020 with a discretionary-focused product mix aimed at higher income shoppers than the company’s flagship brand – now boasts some 240 locations across 20 states. And as the chain has expanded its footprint, it has also grown its audience. Like other affordable luxury venues, pOpshelf experiences large visit spikes during the fourth quarter of the year, as shoppers seek out inexpensive gifts and other holiday fare.
As of February 2024, visits to the chain were up 190.1% compared to a March 2022 baseline. Though Dollar General has reined in the pace of pOpshelf’s expansion to account for what remains a challenging retail environment, the company still plans to open more stores this year. And if pOpshelf’s strong visit trajectory is any indication, investing in the concept’s long-term strength may well bear fruit in the months and years ahead.
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Each of these discount chains has found success by appealing to a different audience. Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, with its constantly-shifting closeout inventory, attracts shoppers from areas with higher shares of singles and fewer families with children. Five Below’s and pOpshelf, on the other hand, feature captured markets with larger shares of parental households than of singles – though pOpshelf’s share of the latter has risen over the past year, as the chain expanded into new markets.
For all three chains, however, the extent of the gap between the two demographic groups varies throughout the year – with the share of singles increasing during the summer and the share of parental households seeing an uptick during the December holiday shopping season. (For pOpshelf, this pattern began to emerge in 2023). Five Below experienced a particularly pronounced version of this trend – with the share of singles frequenting the chain actually outpacing the share of families with children each August. This uptick in the share of singles visiting discount chains – especially Five Below – may be due in part to back-to-school shopping by college students, many of whom load up on dorm supplies towards the end of summer.
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Specialty discount chains offer price-conscious shoppers affordable outlets for retail therapy. And in 2023 and early 2024, Five Below, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, and pOpshelf grew their audiences by appealing to the perennial quest for inexpensive, fun shopping experiences. How will these retailers continue to fare as 2024 wears on? Will cooling inflation put a dent in their gains – or will a revitalized discretionary retail environment propel them forward?
Follow Placer.ai’s data-driven retail analyses to find out.
This blog includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.0, which implements improvements to our extrapolation capabilities, adds short visit monitoring, and enhances visit detection.
Across segments, retail and dining expansions converge on a common set of priorities, including identifying markets with strong demand, ensuring alignment with target audiences, and leveraging local consumer behavior to drive synergy. Using AI-powered location intelligence, we analyzed five expanding brands and segments to uncover the core principles driving successful site selection.
Nationwide visits to coffee chains are up in 2026, with established brands and newcomers alike seeing their traffic increase as consumer headwinds lead some to shift their discretionary spend towards more affordable indulgences. But past visit growth does not necessarily indicate future opportunity – it may instead signal market saturation. Relying solely on overall visit trends to guide expansion could lead chains into highly competitive markets where existing supply already meets demand.
For example, analyzing traffic trends in 10 major metro areas where coffee visits increased year-over-year (YoY) in Q1 2026 reveals significant gaps between overall traffic trends and per-location demand. In some CBSAs, overall traffic growth significantly outpaced per-location traffic trends – suggesting that supply is already meeting (or exceeding) demand and limiting room for new coffee locations despite overall category growth. But in other metro areas, where overall visit growth appears smaller, per-location traffic is actually booming – indicating that the underlying demand is resilient enough to support additional coffee concepts.
These patterns highlight the importance of looking beyond topline growth to identify where true whitespace still exists.
Effective site selection matches both regional and local demographics to a brand’s target customer, supporting performance and reinforcing positioning. But even in well-aligned metros, results depend on site-level precision – locations where the trade area visitor profile most closely reflects the brand’s core audience are best positioned to drive incremental upside.
An analysis of Alo locations in the DC area suggests that the company is adopting this strategy. Within the already high-income metro area of Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, individual Alo Yoga stores are placed in centers that draw even more affluent visitors – maximizing the revenue potential of each location.
In fact, Alo's newest stores in the metro area – One Loudoun and Bethesda Row – drive traffic from households with higher median incomes than even the established area locations. This signals a clear focus on premium retail corridors and affluent consumer segments, which reinforces the brand’s positioning while capturing higher-spending customers at the site level.
Beyond driving traffic potential and demographic alignment, site selection should also ensure that a brand’s identity and operating model are well matched to the visitation patterns of prospective locations. Barnes & Noble offers a clear example. The company’s ongoing resurgence has relied in part on repositioning itself as a local cultural and social hub, with a stronger emphasis on local curation and community-driven events.
And analyzing Barnes & Noble’s 2026 openings shows a clear tilt toward centers with a higher share of local traffic than the chain average – supporting its shift away from a purely transactional retail model toward a more community-centric experience built around local curation, events, and repeat visitation. By prioritizing locally driven centers, the company’s site selection strategy not only captures relevant traffic but also reinforces its broader repositioning as a neighborhood-oriented brand.
Effective site selection recognizes that proximity to competitors can function as a demand driver, amplifying traffic rather than diluting it.
In practice, this often takes the form of clustering – deliberately locating near similar or complementary concepts to capture shared demand. Shake Shack provides a clear example. Analyzing the chain's store fleet shows that many locations sit near other QSR and fast-casual concepts, creating opportunities to capture dining-based traffic. At the same time, strong cross-visitation patterns indicate that these co-located brands share a common customer base, positioning the brand closer to consumers who are already likely to visit. And, at least for Shake Shack, this strategy appears to be working – traffic to the chain increased 19.9% YoY in Q1 2026.
Incorporating trade area analysis into site selection can also help determine whether a new location will generate new traffic or risk cannibalizing existing demand. Aldi, a rapidly expanding grocery chain, offers a relevant example.
The company opened a fourth Las Vegas store on S Decatur Blvd in October 2025, positioned between existing locations on W Craig Rd and S Rainbow Blvd, approximately eight miles from each. And analyzing the core trade area of each of the four Las Vegas locations indicated limited visitor cannibalization over the last six months, despite the stores’ close proximity. Only 6.2% and 7.6% of the S Decatur Blvd store’s trade area overlapped with the W Craig Rd and S Rainbow Blvd stores’ trade areas, respectively.
These findings show that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to store spacing – it varies by brand, category, and market. Analyzing a company’s existing store network alongside competitor density and overall demand can help determine how closely locations can be placed without hurting performance. In many cases – especially in high-frequency categories like grocery – markets can support stores that are closer together than expected.
Physical retail is increasingly defined by a small group of dominant players – Walmart, Target, Costco Wholesale, and Dollar General – that span grocery, essentials, and discretionary categories at a scale no other retailers can match. These chains serve as bellwethers of consumer behavior, revealing where Americans are spending, how often they shop, and what drives their decisions. And understanding their visitation patterns sheds light on the key dynamics shaping both their performance and the broader blueprint for retail success in 2026.
Retail giants Walmart, Target, Costco Wholesale, and Dollar General continue to capture a growing share of brick-and-mortar visits nationwide.
• The share of physical retail traffic captured by these giants rose from 16.8% in 2019 to 17.5% in Q1 2026, signaling continued sector consolidation.
• The scale advantage enjoyed by retail giants is increasingly self-reinforcing: Larger players benefit from superior data, stronger vendor leverage, and operational efficiencies that in turn further widen the gap.
• As these advantages compound, direct competition becomes less viable. Instead, smaller retailers should focus on owning specific trip missions – such as convenience, fill-in, or discovery – where format, assortment curation, and in-store experience can more directly shape consumer choice.
• For CRE operators, the growing dominance of these retail giants increases reliance on top-tier anchors, potentially driving performance gaps between centers with strong national tenants and those without.
• For CPG companies, the consolidation in the offline retail space heightens channel concentration, making success with a handful of large retailers critical while increasing those retailers’ negotiating leverage.
Traffic trends across the four giants reveal meaningful divergence in performance.
• Costco and Dollar General are driving the strongest visit growth, supported by both substantial fleet expansions and rising visits per location. In 2025, visits per store exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 18.1% for Costco and 10.2% for Dollar General, with both brands also seeing steady increases in their share of total brick-and-mortar retail chain visits.
• Walmart remains the largest player by far, accounting for 9.7% of traffic to major brick-and-mortar chains in 2025. And though the behemoth’s share of visits declined slightly in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, it has held steady over the past three years.
• Target’s visit share has remained relatively flat over the past three years, reflecting stalled momentum. Still, early 2026 trends point to emerging signs of recovery – with Q1 visits up 8.3% compared to Q1 2019.
• Value retail is winning, but in more specialized forms: Dollar General (extreme value + convenience) and Costco (bulk value + loyalty) are driving the strongest traffic growth and rising visits per store, while Walmart’s broad “everyday value” remains steady with slower growth. Target, for its part, is lagging – likely a reflection of the broader bifurcation in retail which has left middle-market players caught between consumers trading down to value and those trading up to quality.
• For retailers and CPG companies, the broader lesson is that value perception is becoming more nuanced. It’s no longer just about offering low prices at scale, but about how value is delivered – whether through small packs vs. bulk, or quick trips vs. stock-up missions. Success increasingly depends on prioritizing these distinct value formats and investing in channels where store-level productivity is improving.
• For CRE operators, the outperformance of retailers with clearly defined value propositions underscores the importance of mission-driven tenant mix. As shoppers visit with increasingly specific missions in mind, retailers that cater to those missions are outperforming. Tenant strategies should reflect this shift, ensuring complementary offerings that reinforce a cohesive shopping mission.
Walmart remains the dominant brick-and-mortar retailer nationwide and across all fifty states. Still, the data suggests there is room for multiple runners-up to succeed across geographies and customer segments.
• Dollar General, Target, and Costco each attract distinct audience segments. Dollar General attracts a disproportionately high share of the “Mature and Retired Living” segment, while Costco leads among family households, with Target also over-indexing with this group. Among younger “Contemporary Households,” meanwhile – a segment encompassing singles, married couples without children, and non-family households – Target commands the highest share, slightly over-indexing compared to the nationwide baseline.
• Regional strengths vary significantly, with Dollar General concentrated in the South, Costco dominant in the Northwest, and Target showing more dispersed areas of strength.
• Despite similar overall visit share, Dollar General leads in more states (26 vs. 17 for Target), reflecting broader geographic dominance.
• For retailers, the data suggests that growth opportunities are increasingly shaped by localized demographic and geographic dynamics – meaning that targeted, market-specific strategies may be more effective than uniform national approaches.
• Younger “Contemporary Households” remain less locked-in than older demographics, representing a key battleground for future growth.
• For CPG companies, this data highlights that channel strategy is really about building the right mix of retailers, since even large national players reach different types of consumers.
• CRE operators should ask "which anchor is right for this trade area" rather than "which anchor is strongest," as mismatched tenants can underperform even if they’re nationally dominant.
After remaining essentially flat in 2025, average visits per location to Walmart grew 3.5% YoY in Q1 2026. And the retailer’s solid Q1 performance across the U.S. underscores its unique ability to resonate across income levels, geographies, and shopping missions.
• Walmart posted year-over-year visit growth across nearly all U.S. markets in Q1 2026, reinforcing its role as a universally relevant retailer.
• The giant’s comparative softness in small parts of the Northeast suggests an opportunity to double down on region-specific assortments, urban-friendly formats, or partnerships to better match local shopping behaviors.
• Walmart’s broad-based growth shows that even as consumers are increasingly willing to visit multiple retailers to get what they want, its Superstore model has solidified its role as a primary stop on the American shopping journey – making it a uniquely reliable anchor for CRE operators.
• For smaller retailers, this underscores the opportunity to win the “second stop” – capturing trips through curated assortments and more tailored in-store experiences that Walmart’s scale is less optimized to deliver.
• For CPG companies, Walmart stands out as a highly attractive partner for broad, efficient reach, given its consistent traffic across markets.
Target’s recent performance suggests early momentum in reversing prior softness.
• Q1 2026 visits to Target rose 5.1% year over year, marking the chain’s first positive visit growth in more than a year, and suggesting that the chain’s new turnaround strategy may be bearing fruit.
• Gains were driven primarily by visits lasting 30 to 45 minutes, which accounted for 19.6% of overall visits to Target in Q1 2026 – pointing to stronger in-store engagement rather than quick, mission-driven stops.
• Target’s return to traffic growth – driven by increases in mid-length trips – signals a sustainable recovery on the horizon, strengthening its reliability as a traffic-driving tenant for CRE operators.
• Target's turnaround shows retailers how increasing shopper engagement can generate growth by converting quick trips into higher-value, multi-category experiences.
• For CPG companies, the rise in mid-length visits indicates a more receptive in-store environment for discovery and trade-up, making Target an increasingly attractive channel for innovation, merchandising, and premium offerings.
Dollar General is becoming embedded in consumers’ daily routines.
• Visitor frequency to Dollar General is on the rise. In Q1 2026, nearly a quarter of visitors frequented the chain at least four times in an average month, up from 21.2% in Q1 2022.
• Dollar General is becoming increasingly local in nature: As its footprint expands, more visits originate nearby, with 28.0% coming from within one mile – reinforcing its role as a neighborhood store of choice.
• Dollar General’s visitation patterns point to a growing ownership of the convenience mission. Its expanding store density is creating a self-reinforcing network effect, where proximity fuels frequency, and frequency strengthens long-term defensibility.
• For retailers, Dollar General’s rising share of nearby and high-frequency visits shows that proximity can drive habit, making convenience a powerful lever for building repeat behavior.
• For CRE operators, the data highlights the strength of hyper-local, necessity-driven traffic, positioning Dollar General as a stable tenant that anchors consistent, repeat visitation.
• For CPG professionals, the increase in frequent trips signals a high-velocity purchase environment, favoring smaller pack sizes and products that align with regular replenishment cycles.
Costco continues to grow and diversify its audience despite higher membership fees and stricter food court access policies, highlighting the strength of its value proposition and loyalty model.
• In September 2024, Costco raised its membership fees for the first time in seven years – and more recently tightened enforcement of member-only access to its food courts. Despite these changes, visitation has remained strong, highlighting the company’s pricing power and deep customer loyalty.
• At the same time, Costco’s shopper base is broadening, with median household income trending slightly downward while remaining relatively affluent.
• Offering strong value to a relatively affluent consumer base can be a winning formula in 2026. Retailers that combine quality, trust, and perceived savings – rather than competing solely on low prices – are well positioned to drive both loyalty and sustained traffic growth.
• For CRE operators, Costco’s sustained traffic growth and broadening shopper base reinforce its value as a standalone, high-demand traffic magnet that can anchor entire trade areas and drive surrounding retail development.
• For CPG companies, the combination of high traffic and declining median HHI signals that Costco is evolving into a scaled channel reaching beyond affluent shoppers, requiring more diversified assortment and pricing strategies.
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It’s been decades since the U.S. last hosted the World Cup, and anticipation continues to build. While the matches themselves will deliver thrilling moments for fans inside the stadium, a far broader audience is expected to engage from beyond the gates – gathering at bars, watch parties, and living rooms across the country.
Drawing on insights from recent sporting and cultural events, this analysis examines how the World Cup may impact consumer behavior and audiences across stadiums, host cities, and nationwide.
In 2025, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ hosted a wide range of concerts and sporting events. And an examination of three – Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s tour stop, the FIFA Club World Cup Final, and a Week 17 New York Jets matchup against division rivals and the Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots – reveals clear differences in audience composition across event types.
Trade area analysis showed that the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup Final drew the largest share of single visitors and the highest median household income (HHI) of the three events – a pattern that could reflect the premium tickets and travel typically associated with a quadrennial championship match.
With the 2026 World Cup elevating the level of global competition, stadiums set to host matches this summer – including MetLife – may see even more dramatic shifts in their audience relative to other events.
While spectators attending World Cup matches are likely to differ from those drawn to other events throughout the year, audience shifts are likely to occur also within the tournament itself. As the competition progresses and the stakes rise, the visitor profile at host stadiums may trend progressively higher-income, as suggested by an analysis of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA during the recent NFL season and Super Bowl.
During the Super Bowl, the stadium’s captured market median HHI surpassed that of every 49ers home game during the 2025-26 season – a pattern consistent with the event’s premium ticket pricing, national draw, and high levels of out-of-market travel.
And since the World Cup only takes place every four years, and necessitates international travel for die-hard fans, attendees are likely to be even more affluent than Super Bowl go-ers. Moreover, as the tournament reaches its later stages, each match becomes more significant and carries the potential to drive an even more affluent in-person audience.
Diving deeper into last year’s FIFA Club World Cup Final and Semifinal matches at MetLife Stadium provides further insight into the significance of the in-person audience that doesn’t make it into the stands. While FIFA generally places restrictions on tailgating, the behavior was still observed at MetLife and several other tournament venues in 2025. To put the phenomenon into perspective, location intelligence indicates that on the day of the Club World Cup final, combined visits to MetLife and its parking lots were 24.8% higher than visits to the stadium alone.
AI-powered trade area analysis further contextualizes the economic significance of this audience. During the semifinal matches, MetLife Stadium’s captured market median HHI remained nearly identical – just over $100K – with and without parking lot visitors. A similar pattern held for the Final, where median HHI for both the stadium-only and combined stadium-plus-parking visitors both rose above $115K, with the stadium-only figure only marginally higher.
This suggests that tailgaters represent a significant cohort with discretionary income to spend on the broader match-day experience, even if they opt out of spending big money on tickets.
With tailgating during the 2026 World Cup likely to remain limited due to FIFA regulations, the spending power of fans just outside the stadiums could create opportunities for alternative forms of engagement. Fan zones and other nearby hospitality events may offer effective ways to capture demand.
Nearby dining and entertainment venues are among the most accessible experiences for fans in the stadium area, and these stand to benefit significantly from elevated game-day foot traffic.
Analysis of recent FIFA Club World Cup matches reveals the impact of match-day activity on local businesses. Visitor journey data from the June 25th, 2025 matchup between Inter Milan and River Plate at Seattle’s Lumen Field, and the June 28th, 2025 meeting between Palmeiras and Botafogo at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia reveals that a significant share of stadium visitors also stopped at nearby dining and recreation venues on the day. Location intelligence also shows that, on the day of the match, each stadium-adjacent venue received a significant visit boost compared to its 2025 daily average.
This pattern underscores the potential impact of the World Cup on the surrounding commercial ecosystem. The stadium may anchor the experience, but fan engagement will likely spill into adjacent areas – creating opportunities for both organizers and local businesses. To take full advantage, restaurants and bars can position themselves as fan-friendly destinations through watch parties, extended hours, and even mobile or outdoor offerings in stadium corridors.
Previous major sporting events – including the Super Bowl – demonstrate that the impact of large-scale sporting moments often extends beyond the immediate stadium vicinity into the broader regional economy.
In the weeks leading up to the latest Super Bowl in Santa Clara, CA on February 8th, 2026, both the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkley and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CBSAs saw a notable uptick in year-over-year dining traffic – outperforming the nationwide average. The timing suggests that early-arriving travellers combined with locals enjoying pre-event concerts and events helped fuel demand. In contrast, nationwide dining traffic saw a more pronounced lift the following week – likely tied to Valentine’s Day on February 14.
This pattern indicates that regions hosting – or located near – World Cup 2026 matches could experience similar pre-event dining tailwinds. As out-of-town visitors arrive and local engagement builds in the days and weeks leading up to key matches, restaurants and hospitality may benefit from elevated demand – particularly when supported by ancillary events and fan experiences.
Other recent examples suggest that cities hosting major events like the World Cup stand to benefit from an influx of out-of-town visitors – particularly those with higher spending power.
Since the beginning of 2025, New Orleans has hosted a series of popular events that drove significant non-local traffic. AI-powered trade area data indicates that during these periods, out-of-market visitors consistently exhibited a higher median HHI than both local residents and typical commuters into the city.
As expected, the 2025 Super Bowl generated the most pronounced spike in out-of-market visitor median HHI among the events analyzed, but the pattern extends beyond one-time spectacles. Recurring events like Mardi Gras and major music festivals also attracted high-income visitors to the city – likely benefitting the local hospitality, dining, and retail industries.
Looking ahead to the 2026 World Cup, host cities are likely to experience a similar dynamic. The tournament’s global draw will likely bring affluent travelers with discretionary dollars to the host regions – visitors that will spend not only on match tickets, but also on accommodation, dining, and shopping. By sponsoring tournament-related festivals, concerts, and experiences in or near retail corridors, cities can amplify the economic impact of the World Cup beyond the stadium.
The impact of the 2026 World Cup is unlikely to be confined to the select cities hosting matches. Major sporting events drive large-scale at-home viewership, generating ripple effects nationwide.
The Super Bowl offers a useful benchmark. In the days leading up to February 8th, 2026, visits to grocery stores and pizza chains rose above day-of-week averages for 2025, ultimately peaking on the day of the big game day as households appeared to pick up last-minute fixings and takeout for their watch parties.
This pattern indicates that the World Cup – with its extended schedule and multiple high-stakes matchups – could drive repeated waves of elevated grocery and take-out demand as fans gather together throughout the tournament.
Of course, at-home viewing is just one piece of the match-day equation. Many fans opt for a more communal experience – gathering at sports bars across the country to watch the game alongside fellow supporters.
Recent highly-anticipated soccer matches offer a clear signal of this behavior. During the recent Allstate Continental Clásico, MLS Cup Final, and SheBelieves Cup Final, top sports bars in key markets like Los Angeles and Miami recorded visit spikes above day-of-week averages.
Not every World Cup fan will be able to attend in-person or travel to a host city, but previous match-day lifts in sports bar traffic demonstrate that fans nationwide will participate in the tournament experience.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to engage a wide spectrum of fans – from casual viewers at home to dedicated supporters traveling to stadiums – shaping how and where demand emerges.
As a result, the tournament’s impact will be felt across multiple layers of retail, dining, and tourism. Stadium-centered spending, activity in surrounding corridors, host-city consumer demand, and gatherings of spectators nationwide all point to a broad and interconnected World Cup effect that is likely to shape both audience composition and behavior at scale.
