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CVS and Walgreens, the two largest drugstore chains in the country, have faced increased competition from superstores and online platforms in recent years. To adapt, both chains are optimizing their brick-and-mortar footprints – and Walgreens is going private following its recent acquisition by Sycamore Partners.
We took a look at the two chains’ visit performance to see what lies ahead for each.
CVS and Walgreens command a major portion of drugstore visits nationwide – and their foot traffic data sheds light on how each is weathering heightened competition. CVS, which consolidated its fleet between 2022 and 2024, saw both overall visits (+0.6%) and average visits per location (+2.9%) elevated YoY in Q4 2024, suggesting that these store closures have helped bolster the chain.
Walgreens, which also closed a significant number of stores over the past two years, saw overall foot traffic lag slightly throughout 2024. However, average visits per location to the chain were up in all but one quarter of the year, suggesting that Walgreen’s rightsizing moves are having a positive impact on the chain, directing more traffic to higher-performing locations.
These patterns held into 2025, with CVS enjoying elevated YoY visits in all weeks analyzed, while Walgreens visits remained, for the most part, slightly below 2024 levels. Walgreens recently announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners, and while the impact of this deal remains to be seen, it could create opportunities for innovation and strategic transformation.
CVS and Walgreens are major players in the pharmacy space, controlling the lion’s share of offline pharmacy visits (excluding general and grocery retailers with on-site pharmacies such as Walmart and Kroger.) And even as the two chains have reduced their footprints, their overall market presence has expanded – perhaps a reflection of the broader challenges facing smaller pharmacy operators.
Between Q1 2023 and Q4 2024, the share of visits to drugstore and pharmacy retailers attributed to CVS increased from 41.9% to 44.0%, while Walgreens’ share grew modestly from 49.2% to 50.4%. Meanwhile, the share of visits to smaller chains declined from 8.9% to 5.5%. This indicates that CVS’s growing visit share has not come at the expense of Walgreens – underscoring both chains’ resilience and growth potential in the face of sector-wide headwinds.
CVS closed hundreds of stores between 2022 and 2024 as it sought to refine its retail strategy – and now, the drugstore seems to be ready for its next move. The chain announced the rollout of about a dozen small-format stores, set to open throughout 2025. These stores will stock more of the essentials – cold medicine, first-aid care – and offer pharmacy services, while eschewing some of the traditional drugstore offerings like greeting cards and groceries.
And exploring CBSA-level visitation patterns at CVS suggests that this move may indeed be giving consumers what they want – especially in certain areas of the country. In 2024, short visits to CVS (i.e. those lasting less than ten minutes) increased YoY in many CBSAs nationwide, but some regions, like the Northeast, experienced stronger short visit growth than others. As CVS plans out its small-format expansion, focusing on regions with strong interest in short visits – where consumers may be particularly interested in an efficient shopping experience at a scaled-down location – could help it capture even more market share while improving customer convenience.
CVS and Walgreens have faced their fair share of challenges in recent years, but both are adapting to stay competitive. New leadership and store formats may help them better serve customers and navigate the shifting retail pharmacy market.
Will the segment continue to adapt to a changing retail environment? Visit Placer.ai to find out.
Recently, Target announced plans to add around 2,000 items to its baby and toddler assortment, with the goal of "supporting families throughout the parenting journey with products that bring joy and convenience to their everyday lives.”
The data suggests that Target shoppers are likely to react positively to this expanded baby assortment: Layering Placer.ai's trade area data with Spatial.ai's psychographic segmentation shows that Target's trade area is over-indexed for a range of family-oriented consumer segments, and affluent families in particular account for a significant share of Target's captured market. An expanded baby assortment is therefore likely to appeal to much of Target’s visitor base.
In a period marked by ongoing inflation and rising grocery prices, two chains – Trader Joe’s and Aldi – continue to thrive. We took a closer look at the two chains’ data to see what is driving their continued success.
Trader Joe’s and Aldi continue to be growth leaders in the grocery space. Both focus on selling a more limited selection of products and are known for providing quality at more budget-friendly prices. Both have also been in expansion mode, opening new stores and strengthening their market presence.
In 2024, Trader Joe’s visits increased by 6.2% compared to 2023, while Aldi saw an even more significant traffic rise of 18.2%. And while store expansion certainly contributed to this growth, average visits per location also trended upward, indicating strong demand across the two chains’ existing store networks. Trader Joe’s, which added about 35 stores in 2024, saw visits per location rise by 3.2%. Aldi, which added over 100 new locations in 2024, experienced a 13.5% increase in visits per location.
These strong foot traffic trends have continued into 2025, with weekly visits maintaining 2024’s momentum. Visits and visits per location were consistently elevated, an impressive feat given 2024’s already strong visit metrics.
As both chains continue to expand – Trader Joe’s has announced dozens of new openings in 2025, and Aldi has hundreds in the pipeline – the chains are well positioned for an even stronger 2025.
Trader Joe’s and Aldi offer a similar shopping experience – limited assortment, smaller store sizes, and a focus on budget-friendly offerings – but in practice, the two chains attract different audiences. In 2024, the median household income (HHI) in Trader Joe’s captured market trade area was $110.1K, significantly higher than Aldi’s $75.7K and the national median for grocery shoppers ($82.0K).
And while the two grocers attract shoppers from different sides of the income spectrum, analyzing consumer behavior at Aldi and Trader Joe’s reveals commonalities that may be driving some of their success.
Both Trader Joe’s and Aldi received a larger share of weekend visitors (35.0% and 34.4%, respectively) than the grocery nationwide average (32.1%). This suggests that, despite both chains’ limited assortment, consumers view Trader Joe’s and Aldi as weekend stock-up destinations – taking advantage of their days off to enjoy a more leisurely shopping experience at these value-driven retailers.
The relatively high share of weekend visits is consistent with another emerging trend at the two grocers that suggests Trader Joe’s and Aldi are increasingly becoming primary grocery destinations.
Between 2023 and 2024, both Aldi and Trader Joe’s saw a decrease in the share of visitors that visited another grocery chain immediately before or after their Aldi or Trader Joe’s trip. This shift may be a result of an increasingly budget-conscious shopper, and suggests that visitors are choosing Aldi and Trader Joe’s as a main shopping destination rather than supplementing trips to larger chains.
This marks a promising shift for Trader Joe’s and Aldi as they continue expanding their footprints. By commanding a bigger slice of the grocery pie, both chains are solidifying their positions as go-to destinations for full grocery hauls.
Trader Joe’s and Aldi seem well-positioned as 2025 gets underway, with both driving continued foot traffic growth and becoming more of a primary destination for their shoppers.
As both stores expand their footprint, will these trends hold?
Visit Placer.ai to find out.
As we wrap up Q1 2025, we’re already beginning to see a slow down in retail visitation by consumers. Despite general growth in retail visitation over the past few years, rapid price increases and changes in consumer behavior may finally have caught up to consumers across income levels. In this new unknown chapter of the retail industry, one thing is clear; high income consumers are critical for retailers to capture and retain in order to offset a drop-off in demand by other cohorts.
High income shoppers have long been the elusive target of retailers across a variety of price points. From Target to Neiman Marcus to specialty grocers, retailers have tried to enhance assortments, increase service offerings, and eliminate inconveniences for consumers who have the highest levels of disposable income. These factors only grew in importance as the retail industry navigated the pandemic and the subsequent consumer recovery – high income shoppers' price elasticity has bolstered the industry against rising inflation and price increases.
What’s fascinating, though, is that despite the buying power of high income consumers – they aren’t large contributors of retail visitation overall. According to our Placer 100 Dining and Retail Index, households with income greater than $200K accounted for 8.1% of overall visits in 2024, which is slightly lower than the share of visits from the same group in 2019 (8.2%). The share of visits from lower income households increased since the pandemic (32.9% of visits from households with a median income of $50K or less in 2024, compared to 32.7% in 2019), while the inverse is true for higher income shoppers.
The lower share of visits from high income households does align with the general trends we’ve observed across retail. Lower income shoppers, who have become more price conscious and constrained by rising costs, have increased their frequency of visits across multiple retail chains in order to derive the most value from their visits. Meanwhile, wealthier shoppers may have maintained or increased their online purchasing since the pandemic onset, which could have lessened their desire to shop in person.
With a smaller share of the wealthiest shoppers visiting retail locations, the fight for those consumer dollars is going to be even more competitive. Alternatively, for categories that are capturing even more visits from high income shoppers, the need to satisfy their needs and drive conversion is critical.
Retailers that have won over this group have tapped into the desire for value no matter the level of household income. Walmart executives recently shared that their largest growth in market share came from consumers with income over $100K. Placer’s foot traffic estimates also indicate that, indeed, traffic distribution for households with income over $75K increased in 2024 compared to 2022, with declines in the share of visits by lower income households.
Walmart attributed these changes to their increased premium service offerings, including its membership program and delivery services – but there could also be another element at play. As prices have gone up considerably since the pandemic, even wealthier shoppers don’t want to see their receipts rise on a daily or weekly basis. Price perception can spur changes in consumer behavior, and this can apply to any consumer, no matter their socioeconomic status. Walmart’s success with wealthier cohorts sends a message to others in the industry; just because a consumer can afford to pay higher prices, doesn’t mean they will.
On the other end of the retail spectrum, the luxury retail market is also facing new challenges in regards to their changing consumer base. As we discussed in our overview of the category in January, there has been a consolidation of visits favoring high income households. In reviewing the captured share of visits by household income for luxury apparel and accessories chains, the largest declines came from “aspirational shoppers,” or those who made less than $150K, who might shop for luxury brands less frequently or for a special purchase. With a smaller pool of potential shoppers to pull from, luxury brands can no longer rely on those outside their core base.
The higher concentration of ultra wealthy consumers forces luxury brands to once again center themselves around the in-store experience and competitive advantages. Brands are constantly vying for shoppers' attention, and luxury brands can take full advantage of their store fleets as a way to court consumers. Personal shoppers, services, and private appointments will all become more important for stores to make up for a potential loss in aspirational consumers.
According to Personalive’s window of insight into different socioeconomic consumer cohorts, Ultra Wealthy Families, defined as those with income higher than $200K, also frequent specialty grocery chains, high-end fitness clubs such as Lifetime Fitness and high-end home goods retailers like Restoration Hardware and West Elm. These retailers, similar to luxury apparel and accessories brands, cater directly to high income households, which provides both opportunities for growth and potential hurdles if these consumers change their spending habits.
High income shoppers are quickly becoming the most courted shopper cohort. As retailers look to innovate and open new locations, lucrative neighborhoods with more high-touch services might pave the way for growth. However, the industry, particularly retailers who service middle and low income families, cannot abandon their consumer base in their efforts. With consumers so intrinsically focused on value, even high income consumers can’t be relied on solely to sustain the retail industry.
For more data-driven insights, visit placer.ai
Iconic clothing brand Brooks Brothers – known for dressing presidents – has experienced a challenging few years. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and closed a number of stores – but recent foot traffic suggests that things are turning around for the retailer.
We took a look at the location analytics for the brand to see how it’s been weathering recent challenges.
Brooks Brothers has long been synonymous with high-quality clothing, specializing in office attire – blazers, dress shirts, and tailored trousers. However, the brand faced significant challenges leading up to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in July 2020. Even before the pandemic reshaped work routines, office wear had been trending toward more casual styles. COVID-19, which brought with it a surge in remote work, accelerated this shift even further.
As a response to the bankruptcy, Brooks Brothers implemented a strategic restructuring plan, closing underperforming stores and refocusing on high-traffic locations. This rightsizing strategy appears to be yielding positive results, with visits per location rising 4.7% year-over-year in Q4 2024. While total visits have declined, the remaining stores drew more customers on average, suggesting a more efficient footprint. Now, with the brand even opening new locations – including a flagship store in Boston – Brooks Brothers is signaling renewed confidence in its future.
Store count isn't the only thing changing at Brooks Brothers – its customer base is shifting as well. Between 2019 and 2024, the share of households with children in Brooks Brothers’ captured market trade area increased from 26.5% to 28.0%, while the share of “Suburban Periphery” households (as defined by Esri's Tapestry segmentation dataset) grew from 45.4% to 47.5%.
These shifts align with broader trends, including a renewed interest in suburban living and the rise of the quiet luxury movement, which favors timeless, high-quality fashion. And with back-to-office mandates continuing to ramp up, Brooks Brothers is well-positioned to maintain its momentum with this growing segment.
Despite the rocky economic environment, Brooks Brothers seems to be holding steady. By focusing on its strongest locations and core offerings, the brand may be on its way to a comeback.
For more data-driven retail and apparel insights, visit Placer.ai.
When it comes to home improvement retail, big-box chains like Home Depot and Lowe’s are often top of mind. However, retail visit share data shows that smaller-format chains such as Ace Hardware, Harbor Freight, and Tractor Supply have been outperforming their larger competitors over the past several years.
This trend is primarily driven by store expansion and migration patterns. Ace Hardware and Harbor Freight have aggressively increased their presence in high-growth markets, particularly in smaller cities where their 10,000-20,000 square foot store footprints provide a strategic advantage. In contrast, Home Depot and Lowe’s, with their larger 100,000+ square foot layouts, face greater challenges expanding into these markets.
The success of smaller retailers reflects a broader industry shift toward optimizing store formats, with many retailers—including those in home furnishings, department stores, and grocery – embracing smaller stores to mitigate rising operational costs and respond to evolving consumer migration trends.
The pandemic and economic headwinds that marked the past few years presented the multi-billion dollar hotel industry with significant challenges. But five years later, the industry is rallying – and some hotel segments are showing significant growth.
This white paper delves into location analytics across six major hotel categories – Luxury Hotels, Upper Upscale Hotels, Upscale Hotels, Upper Midscale Hotels, Midscale Hotels, and Economy Hotels – to explore the current state of the American hospitality market. The report examines changes in guest behavior, personas, and characteristics and looks at factors driving current visitation trends.
Overall, visits to hotels were 4.3% lower in Q2 2024 than in Q2 2019 (pre-pandemic). But this metric only tells part of the story. A deeper dive into the data shows that each hotel tier has been on a more nuanced recovery trajectory.
Economy chains – those offering the most basic accommodations at the lowest prices – saw visits down 24.6% in Q2 2024 compared to pre-pandemic – likely due in part to hotel closures that have plagued the tier in recent years. Though these chains were initially less impacted by the pandemic, they were dealt a significant blow by inflation – and have seen visits decline over the past three years. As hotels that cater to the most price-sensitive guests, these chains are particularly vulnerable to rising costs, and the first to suffer when consumer confidence takes a hit.
Luxury Hotels, on the other hand, have seen accelerated visit growth over the past year – and have succeeded in closing their pre-pandemic visit gap. Upscale chains, too, saw Q2 2024 visits on par with Q2 2019 levels. As tiers that serve wealthier guests with more disposable income, Luxury and Upscale Hotels are continuing to thrive in the face of headwinds.
But it is the Upper Midscale level – a tier that includes brands like Trademark Collection by Wyndham, Fairfield by Marriott, Holiday Inn Express by IHG Hotels & Resorts, and Hampton by Hilton – that has experienced the most robust visit growth compared to pre-pandemic. In Q2 2024, Upper Midscale Hotels drew 3.5% more visits than in Q2 2019. And during last year’s peak season (Q3 2023), Upper Midscale hotels saw the biggest visit boost of any analyzed tier.
As mid-range hotels that still offer a broad range of amenities, Upper Midscale chains strike a balance between indulgence and affordability. And perhaps unsurprisingly, hotel operators have been investing in this tier: In Q4 2023, Upper Midscale Hotels had the highest project count of any tier in the U.S. hotel construction and renovation pipeline.
The shift in favor of Upper Midscale Hotels and away from Economy chains is also evident when analyzing changes in relative visit share among the six hotel categories.
Upper Midscale hotels have always been major players: In H1 2019 they drew 28.7% of overall hotel visits – the most of any tier. But by H1 2024, their share of visits increased to 31.2%. Upscale Hotels – the second-largest tier – also saw their visit share increase, from 24.8% to 26.1%.
Meanwhile, Economy, Midscale, and Upper Upscale Hotels saw drops in visit share – with Economy chains, unsurprisingly, seeing the biggest decline. Luxury Hotels, for their parts, held firmly onto their piece of the pie, drawing 2.8% of visits in H1 2024.
Who are the visitors fueling the Upper Midscale visit revival? This next section explores shifts in visitor demographics to four Upper Midscale chains that are outperforming pre-pandemic visit levels: Trademark Collection by Wyndham, Holiday Inn Express by IHG Hotels & Resorts, Fairfield by Marriott, and Hampton by Hilton.
Analyzing the captured markets* of the four chains with demographics from STI: Popstats (2023) shows variance in the relative affluence of their visitor bases.
Fairfield by Marriott drew visitors from areas with a median household income (HHI) of $84.0K in H1 2024, well above the nationwide average of $76.1K. Hampton by Hilton and Trademark Collection by Wyndham, for their parts, drew guests from areas with respective HHIs of $79.6K and $78.5K – just above the nationwide average. Meanwhile, Holiday Inn Express by IHG Hotels & Resorts drew visitors from areas below the nationwide average.
But all four brands saw increases in the median HHIs of their captured markets over the past five years. This provides a further indication that it is wealthier consumers – those who have had to cut back less in the face of inflation – who are driving hotel recovery in 2024.
(*A chain’s captured market is obtained by weighting each Census Block Group (CBG) in its trade area according to the CBG’s share of visits to the chain – and so reflects the population that actually visits the chain in practice.)
Much of the Upper Midscale visit growth is being driven by chain expansion. But in some areas of the country, the average number of visits to individual hotel locations is also on the rise – highlighting especially robust growth potential.
Analyzing visits to existing Upper Midscale chains in four metropolitan areas with booming tourism industries – Salt Lake City, UT, Palm Bay, FL, San Diego, CA, and Richmond, VA – shows that these markets feature robust untapped demand.
Utah, for example, has emerged as a tourist hotspot in recent years – with millions of visitors flocking each year to local destinations like Salt Lake City to see the sights and take in the great outdoors. And Upper Midscale hotels in the region are reaping the benefits. In H1 2024, the overall number of visits to Upper Midscale chains in Salt Lake City was 69.4% higher than in H1 2019. Though some of this increase can be attributed to local chain expansion, the average number of visits to each individual Upper Midscale location in the area also rose by 12.5% over the same period.
Palm Bay, FL (the Space Coast) – another tourist favorite – is experiencing a similar trend. Between H1 2019 and H1 2024, overall visits to local Upper Midscale hotel chains grew by 36.4% – while the average number of visits per location increased a substantial 16.9%. Given this strong demand, it may come as no surprise that the area is undergoing a hotel construction boom. Upper Midscale hotels in other areas with flourishing tourism sectors, like San Diego, CA and Richmond, VA, are seeing similar trends, with increases in both overall visits and and in the average number of visits per location.
Though Economy chains have underperformed versus other categories in recent years, the tier does feature some bright spots. Some extended-stay brands in the Economy tier – hotels with perks and amenities that cater to the needs of longer-stay travelers – are succeeding despite category headwinds.
Choice Hotels’ portfolio, for example, includes WoodSpring Suites, an Economy chain offering affordable extended-stay accommodations in 35 states. In H1 2024, the chain drew 7.7% more visits than in the first half of 2019 – even as the wider Economy sector continued to languish. InTown Suites, another Economy extended stay chain, saw visits increase by 8.9% over the same period.
And location intelligence shows that the success of these two chains is likely being driven, in part, by their growing appeal to young, well-educated professionals. In H1 2019, households belonging to Spatial.ai: PersonaLive’s “Young Professionals” segment made up 9.6% of WoodSpring Suites’ captured market. But by H1 2024, the share of this group jumped dramatically to 13.3%. At the same time, InTown Suites saw its share of Young Professionals increase from 12.0% to 13.4%.
Whether due to an affinity for prolonged “workcations” (so-called “bleisure” excursions) or an embrace of super-commuting, younger guests have emerged as key drivers of growth for the extended stay segment. And by offering low–cost accommodations that meet the needs of these travelers, Economy chains can continue to grow their share of the pie.
The hospitality industry recovery continues – led by Upper Midscale Hotels, which offer elevated experiences that don’t break the bank. But today’s market has room for other tiers as well. By keeping abreast of local visitation patterns and changing consumer profiles, hotels across chain scales can personalize the visitor experience and drive customer satisfaction.
The past few years have provided the tourism sector with a multitude of headwinds, from pandemic-induced lockdowns to persistent inflation and a rise in extreme weather events. But despite these challenges, people are more excited than ever to travel – more than half of respondents to a recent survey are planning on increasing their travel budgets in the coming months.
And while revenge travel to overseas destinations is still very much alive and well, the often high costs associated with traveling abroad are shaping the way people choose to travel. Domestic travel and tourism are seeing significant growth as more affordable alternatives.
This white paper takes a closer look at two of the most popular domestic tourism destinations in the country – New York City and Los Angeles. Over the past year, both cities have continued to be leading tourism hotspots, offering a wealth of attractions for visitors. What does tourism to these two cities look like in 2024, and what has changed since before the pandemic? How have inflation and rising airfare prices affected the demographics and psychographics of visitors to these major hubs?
Analyzing the distribution of domestic tourists across CBSAs nationwide from May 2023 to April 2024 reveals New York and Los Angeles to be two of the nation’s most popular destinations. (Tourists include overnight visitors staying in a given CBSA for up to 31 days).
The New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA metro area drew the largest share of domestic tourists of any CBSA during the analyzed period (2.7%), followed closely by the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA CBSA (2.5%). Other domestic tourism hotspots included Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL (tied for second place with 2.5% of visitors), Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (1.9%), Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV (1.8%), Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL (1.8%), and Chicago-Naperville, Elgin, IL-IN-WI (1.6%).
The Big Apple. The City That Never Sleeps. Empire City. Whatever it’s called, New York City remains one of the most well-known tourist destinations in the world. And for many Americans, New York is the perfect place for an extended weekend getaway – or for a multi-day excursion to see the sights.
But where do these NYC-bound vacationers come from? Diving into the data on the origin of visitors making medium-length trips to New York City (three to seven nights) reveals that increasingly, these domestic tourists are coming from nearby metro areas.
Between 2018-2019 and 2023-2024, for example, the number of tourists visiting New York City from the Philadelphia metro area increased by 19.2%.
The number of tourists coming from the Boston and Washington, D.C metro areas, and from the New York CBSA itself (New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA) also increased over the same period.
Meanwhile, further-away CBSAs like San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA, and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL fed fewer tourists to NYC in 2023-2024 than they did pre-pandemic. It seems that residents of these more distant metro areas are opting for vacation destinations closer to home to avoid the high costs of air travel.
Diving even deeper into the characteristics of visitors taking medium-length trips to New York City reveals another demographic shift: Tourists staying between three and seven nights in the Big Apple are skewing younger.
Between 2018-2019 and 2023-2024, the share of visitors to New York City from areas with median ages under 30 grew from 2.1% to 4.5%. Meanwhile, the share of visitors from areas with median ages between 31 and 40 increased from 34.3% to 37.7%.
The impact of this trend is already being felt in the Big Apple, with The Broadway League reporting that the average age of audiences to its shows during the 2022- 2023 season was the youngest it had been in 20 seasons.
The shift towards younger tourists can also be seen when examining the psychographic makeup of visitors to popular attractions in New York City. Analyzing the captured markets of major NYC landmarks with data from Spatial.ai’s PersonaLive dataset reveals an increase in households belonging to the “Educated Urbanites” segment between 2018-2019 and 2023-2024.
These well-educated, young singles are increasingly visiting iconic NYC venues such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The American Museum of Natural History, and the Statue of Liberty. This shift highlights the growing popularity of these attractions among young, educated singles, reflecting a broader trend of increased domestic tourism among this demographic.
New York City’s tourism sector is adapting to meet the changing needs of travelers, fueled increasingly by younger visitors who may be unable to take a costly international vacation. How have travel patterns to Los Angeles changed in response to increasing travel costs?
While New York City is the East Coast’s tourism hotspot, Los Angeles takes center stage on the West Coast. And as overseas travel has become increasingly out of reach for Americans with less discretionary income, the share of domestic tourists originating from areas with lower HHIs has risen.
Before the pandemic, 57.6% of visitors to LA came from affluent areas with median household incomes (HHIs) of over $90K/year. But by 2023-2024, this share decreased to 50.7%. Over the same period, the share of visitors from areas with median HHIs between $41K and $60K increased from 9.7% to 12.5%, while the share of visitors from areas with HHIs between $61K and $90K rose from 32.1% to 35.8%.
Diving into the psychographic makeup of visitors to popular Los Angeles attractions – Universal Studios Hollywood, Disneyland California, the Santa Monica Pier, and Griffith Observatory – also reflects the above-mentioned shift in HHI. The captured markets of these attractions had higher shares of middle-income households belonging to the “Family Union” psychographic segment in 2023-2024 than in 2018-2019.
Experian: Mosaic defines this segment as “middle income, middle-aged families living in homes supported by solid blue-collar occupations.” Pre-pandemic, 16.0% of visitors to Universal Studios Hollywood came from trade areas with high shares of “Family Union” households. This number jumped to 18.8% over the past year. A similar trend occurred at Disneyland, Santa Monica Pier, and Griffith Observatory.
And like in New York City, growing numbers of visitors to Los Angeles appear to be coming from nearby areas. Between 2018-2019 and 2023-2024, the share of in-state visitors to major Los Angeles attractions increased substantially – as people likely sought to cut costs by keeping things local.
Pre-pandemic, for example, 68.9% of visitors to Universal Studios Hollywood came from within California – a share that increased to 72.0% over the past year. Similarly, 59.7% of Griffith Observatory visitors in 2018-2019 came from within the state – and by 2023-2024, that number grew to 64.7%.
Even when times are tight, people love to travel – and New York and Los Angeles are two of their favorite destinations. With prices for airfare, hotels, and dining out increasing across the board, younger and more price-conscious households are adapting, choosing to visit nearby cities and enjoy attractions closer to home. And as the tourism industry continues its recovery, understanding emerging visitation trends can help stakeholders meet travelers where they are.
The positive retail momentum observed in Q1 2024 continued into Q2 – as stabilizing prices and a strong job market fostered cautious optimism among consumers. Year-over-year (YoY) retail foot traffic remained elevated throughout the quarter, with June in particular seeing significant weekly visit boosts ranging from 4.7% to 8.5%.
The robustness of the retail sector in Q2 was also highlighted by positive visit growth during the quarter’s special calendar occasions, including Mother’s Day (the week of May 6th) and Memorial Day (the week of May 27th). And though consumer spending may moderate as the year wears on, retail’s strong Q2 showing offers plenty of room for optimism ahead of back-to-school sales and other summer milestones.
On a quarterly basis, overall retail visits rose 4.2% in Q2. And diving into specific categories shows that value continued to reign supreme, with discount and dollar stores seeing the most robust YoY visit growth (11.2%) of any analyzed category.
Other essential goods purveyors, such as grocery store chains (7.6%) and superstores (4.6%), also outperformed the overall retail baseline. And fitness – a category deemed essential by many health-conscious consumers – outpaced overall retail with a substantial 6.0% YoY foot traffic increase.
The decidedly more discretionary home improvement industry performed less well than overall retail in Q2 – but in another sign of consumer resilience, it too experienced a YoY visit uptick. And overall restaurant foot traffic increased 2.6% YoY.
Discount and dollar stores enjoyed a strong Q2 2024, maintaining YoY visit growth above 10.0% for six out of the quarter’s 13 weeks. Only during the week of April 1st did the category see a temporary decline, likely the result of an Easter calendar shift. (The week of April 1st 2024 is being compared to the week of April 3rd, 2023, which included the run-up to Easter)
Some of this growth can be attributed to the continued expansion of segment leaders like Dollar General. But the category has also been bolstered by the emphasis consumers continue to place on value in the face of still-high prices and economic uncertainty.
Dollar General, which has been expanding both its store count and its grocery offerings, saw YoY visits increase between 9.1% and 15.9% throughout the quarter. Affordable-indulgence-oriented Five Below, which has also been adding locations at a brisk clip, saw YoY visits increase between 4.9% and 18.8%.
And though Dollar Tree has taken steps to rightsize its Family Dollar brand, the company’s eponymous banner – which caters to middle-income consumers in suburban areas – continued to grow both its store count and its visits in Q2.
Grocery store chains also performed well in Q2 2024 – experiencing strongly positive foot traffic growth throughout the quarter. Though the sector continues to face its share of challenges, stabilizing food-at-home prices and improvements in employee retention and supply chain management have helped propel the industry forward.
Diving into the performance of specific chains shows that within the grocery segment, too, price was paramount in Q2 2024 – with limited-assortment value grocery stores like Aldi and Trader Joe’s leading the way.
Traditional chains H-E-B and Food Lion (owned by Ahold Delhaize) – both of which are known for relatively low prices – outperformed the wider grocery sector with respective YoY foot traffic boosts of 11.4% and 8.7%. But ShopRite, Safeway (owned by Albertsons), Kroger, and Albertsons also drew more visits in Q2 2024 than in the equivalent period of last year.
Fitness has proven to be relatively inflation-proof in recent years – thriving even in the face of reduced discretionary spending and consumer cutbacks. Indeed, rising prices may have actually helped boost gym attendance, as people sought to squeeze the most value out of their monthly fees and replace pricy outings with already-paid-for gym excursions.
And despite lapping a remarkably strong 2023, visits to gyms nationwide remained elevated YoY in Q2 2024.
Diving into the data for some of the nation’s leading gyms shows that today’s fitness market has plenty of room at the top. Planet Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, Life Time Fitness, Orangetheory Fitness, and LA Fitness all experienced YoY visit growth in Q2 2024 – reflecting consumers’ enduring interest in all things wellness-related.
But it was EōS Fitness and Crunch Fitness – two value gyms that have been pursuing aggressive expansion strategies – that really hit it out of the park, with respective YoY foot traffic increases of 23.4% and 21.4%.
The week of April 1st saw a decline in YoY visits to superstores – likely attributable to the Easter calendar shift noted above. But the category quickly rallied, and with back-to-school shopping and major superstore sales events coming up this July, the category appears poised to enjoy continued success throughout the summer.
Within the superstore category, wholesale clubs continued to stand out – with Costco Wholesale, Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club enjoying YoY foot traffic growth ranging from 12.0% to 7.4%. But Target and Walmart also impressed with 4.6% and 4.0% YoY visit increases.
Inflation, elevated interest rates, and a sluggish real estate market have created a perfect storm for the home improvement industry, with spending on renovations in decline. The accelerated return to office has likely also taken its toll on the category, as people spend more time outside the home and have less availability to immerse themselves in DIY projects.
But despite these challenges, weekly YoY foot traffic to home improvement and furnishing chains remained elevated throughout much of the Q2 – with June and April seeing mostly positive YoY visit growth, and May hovering just below 2023 levels. This (modest) visit growth may be driven by consumers loading up on supplies for necessary home repairs, or by shoppers seeking materials for smaller projects. And given the importance of Q2 for the home improvement sector, this largely positive snapshot may offer some promise of good things to come.
Some chains within the home improvement category continued to perform especially well in Q2 2024 – with rapidly expanding, budget-oriented Harbor Freight Tools leading the pack. But Ace Hardware, Menards, The Home Depot, and Lowe’s also saw foot traffic increases in Q2, showcasing the category’s resilience in the face of headwinds.
Restaurants – including full-service restaurants (FSR), quick-service restaurants (QSR), fast-casual chains, and coffee chains – lagged behind grocery stores and other essential goods retailers in Q2 2024, as price-sensitive consumers prioritized needs over wants and ate at home more often.
Still, YoY restaurant foot traffic remained up throughout most of the quarter. And impressively, the sector saw a YoY visit uptick during the week of Mother’s Day (the week of May 6th, 2024, compared to the week of May 8th, 2023) – an important milestone for FSR.
The restaurant industry’s YoY visit growth was felt across segments – though fast-casual and coffee chains experienced the biggest visit boosts. Like in Q1 2024, fast-casual restaurants hit the sweet spot between indulgence and affordability, outpacing QSR in the wake of fast food price hikes. And building on the positive YoY trendline that began to emerge last quarter, full-service restaurants finished Q2 2024 with a 1.4% YoY visit uptick.
Chain expansion was the name of the restaurant game in Q2 2024, with several chains that have been growing their footprints outperforming segment averages – including CAVA, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Ziggi’s Coffee, California-based Philz Coffee, Raising Cane’s, Whataburger, and First Watch. Chili’s Grill and Bar also outpaced the full-service category average, aided by the revamping of its “3 for Me” menu.
Retailers and restaurants in Q2 2024 continued to face plenty of challenges, from inflation to rising labor costs and volatile consumer confidence. But foot traffic trends across industries – including both essential goods purveyors like grocery stores and more discretionary categories like home improvement and restaurants – suggest plenty of room for cautious optimism as 2024 wears on.
