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Traffic to malls increased in Q1 2026 across all three formats analyzed – indoor malls, open-air shopping centers, and outlet malls – largely thanks to strong performances in the first two months of the year.
But March 2026 visits were more subdued, with indoor malls seeing a slight year-over-year (YoY) decline of 1.1% and outlet malls experiencing a steeper drop of 4.1% compared to March 2025. Open-air shopping centers were the only format to maintain growth, though their 3.2% YoY visit increase – though solid – was still more modest than the stronger gains seen by the format in January and February.
So what happened in March? Why did open-air shopping centers fare better than their peers? And how can malls return to growth across formats going into Q2?
Some of the dip may be due to calendar differences – March 2026 had one less Saturday than March 2025 – and since Saturdays are typically malls' busiest day, the shift likely impacted overall visits for the month.
But a closer look at daypart trends can shed additional light on both the strength earlier in the quarter and the slowdown in March. In Q1 overall, growth was concentrated at the edges of the day: traffic before 11 AM and after 8 PM saw the strongest gains, with additional support from the early evening (5 PM–8 PM). In contrast, midday traffic – the largest share of visits – was relatively flat for open-air centers and slightly negative for indoor and outlet malls. Still, robust edge growth was sufficient to offset this softness and drive overall quarterly gains.
But in March, growth in morning and evening hours slowed – particularly for indoor and outlet malls – while midday declines became more pronounced. This meant that the off-peak gains were no longer sufficient to offset weakness in the core of the day – leading to the YoY traffic declines for indoor and outlet malls.
But even as traffic to indoor and outlet malls declined, open-air shopping centers maintained growth momentum due to two key advantages. First, the format maintained most of its morning and evening gains, and its midday traffic trends ease from growth to stability rather than from stability to decline like for indoor and outlet malls – so the growth at the edges was still enough to offset the flat visits midday. Second, open-air centers are less dependent on midday visits, with around 77% of visits to open-air shopping centers occurring between 11 AM and 8 PM, compared to 83% to 84% for indoor and outlet malls. This means that open-air shopping centers are more resilient to dips in midday visits than the other two formats.
The softness seen in March at indoor and outlet malls does not negate the strong start to 2026, which drove overall YoY visit growth in Q1. However, it does highlight what will be required to sustain that momentum going forward.
The data points to two paths to more durable growth: reigniting demand during peak midday hours through programming, tenant mix, and convenience-driven visits or reducing reliance on that window by expanding traffic in the morning and evening. Open-air shopping centers provide a model for the latter, with a more balanced daypart mix – likely driven by their dining, entertainment, and extended-hour experiences – that has helped cushion midday softness. For indoor and outlet malls, long-term stability will likely depend on a combination of both – strengthening midday performance while also building consistent off-peak demand.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Lands’ End is entering a new chapter. The recently announced joint venture with WHP Global signals a strategic shift for the heritage apparel brand – one that could expand its reach through licensing, brand partnerships, and new distribution channels.
Under the agreement, WHP assumes control of Lands’ End’s licensing business, while the brand retains its retail operations. And while Lands’ End has long been associated with its catalog and e-commerce dominance, AI-powered location analytics suggest that its physical store fleet maintains an important role.
As an apparel brand with a history of catalogue retail, Lands’ End continues to generate the majority of its sales online. Yet its physical stores remain a critical component of the business – and an increasingly bright spot.
Lands’ End outpaced the broader apparel category in year-over-year visit growth in three of the past four quarters, with the only decline in Q1 2026 likely tied to store closures as part of ongoing optimization. At the same time, visits per location have remained consistently positive and above category benchmarks, highlighting the strength of the remaining fleet. This suggests that brick-and-mortar continues to be an effective driver of growth as the brand moves into its next phase.
Further evidence of the fleet’s strength – and its long-term potential – can be seen in the audience it attracts.
AI-powered audience segmentation indicates that in 2025, the brand captured an outsized share of visits from Ultra Wealthy Families, as well as from singles – the combined one-person and non-family households – segments, relative to the traditional apparel category.
The significant share of affluent families points to a customer base with both spending power and relative insulation from macroeconomic pressure. Meanwhile, strength among singles – a cohort that skews younger and includes a meaningful share of Gen Z consumers – highlights traction with a target demographic critical to long-term relevance.
The prevalence of both these audiences in Land's End's trade area suggests a dual advantage. Strong engagement from affluent households may help support near-term stability, while resonance with younger shoppers could indicate a developing pipeline for sustained growth in the years ahead.
The performance of Lands’ End’s store fleet, coupled with the composition of its audience, suggests a brand with momentum in physical retail – a notable advantage as it retains control of that side of the business. A productive fleet and a resilient, evolving customer base provide stability today, and could offer a strong foundation for broader brand expansion in the years ahead.
How will Lands’ End leverage this momentum as it enters its next phase? Visit Placer.ai/anchor to find out.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
Lane Bryant faced significant challenges during the pandemic and has continued to gradually shrink its store fleet in the years since. And now, with nearly one in eight U.S. consumers using GLP-1 medications, plus-size apparel demand is beginning to shift in meaningful ways – introducing a new layer of complexity for the legacy retailer.
How is Lane Bryant navigating these challenges, and what does its customer base reveal about its ability to adapt?
In July 2020, Lane Bryant’s parent company filed for bankruptcy and closed more than 150 stores. But following its acquisition later that year by Sycamore Partners, the brand began to regain its footing – and recent location analytics suggest those stabilization efforts are taking hold.
While the reduced footprint has, unsurprisingly, led to lower overall traffic, average annual visits per location remain above 2019 levels, suggesting that demand has been successfully consolidated into existing locations. Average visits per location also held steady between 2024 and 2025, even as the company continued to quietly trim its unit count. The result is a smaller but more productive fleet, with steady activity supported by fewer, better-aligned stores.
Still, as Lane Bryant continues to stabilize, the question becomes how it can further increase store-level productivity. And analyzing the demographic profile of its trade areas offers insight into both its core strengths and where the next phase of optimization may emerge.
One of the brand’s clearest advantages is Lane Bryant’s strong reach among family-oriented segments, which are overrepresented in its captured market – the areas within its trade area generating the highest share of visits – compared both to its overall trade area (its potential market) and to the national baseline. These segments, including parents of young children and households with teenagers at home, tend to skew younger than peak GLP-1 users, potentially offering the chain some near-term insulation from rapid GLP-1-driven disruption. Still, these cohorts are also seeing growing adoption – and as usage expands within this demographic, Lane Bryant will need to increasingly support customers through evolving size needs rather than rely on demand tied to a stable size identity.
At the same time, the data points to opportunities to expand reach across other segments. Among older households, Lane Bryant’s captured audience aligns with its trade area but falls below the nationwide average, highlighting potential whitespace that could be unlocked through footprint adjustments or more targeted engagement in markets where this segment is more concentrated.
Among younger “Contemporary Households,” by contrast – a segment that includes singles, non-family households, and married couples without children – the brand under-indexes relative to its trade area while slightly outperforming the national benchmark. This suggests Lane Bryant has geographic access to a larger pool of these consumers but has yet to fully capture their demand, pointing to an opportunity for growth through more targeted marketing and merchandising.
GLP-1 adoption is disrupting traditional plus-size apparel demand, while also creating new opportunities as consumers undergoing weight loss journeys increase spend while moving through sizes. Retailers that can support customers across these transitions with more flexible assortments will be better positioned to capture this shift. And Lane Bryant’s steady operational footing and well-defined core audience provide it with a solid foundation to compete in this next phase of growth.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
Oh baby! The competition for ownership of the baby retail space has once again intensified. Target recently announced the debut of its new “Baby Boutique” concept, which launched online on March 15th and is expected to roll out to 200 locations this year. The updated format greatly expands Target’s assortment of brands and baby items, including the debut of beloved and upscale baby brands like Uppababy, Doona, Bugaboo and Stokke, which previously hadn’t been sold at the retailer. Target’s strategy appears to be aimed at courting and retaining new and expectant parents who are looking for a one-stop shopping experience for baby products, whether in hardlines or softlines.
The baby category, in particular, has presented a white space opportunity for retailers across the country since the closure of buybuy Baby in 2023. Since then, Kohl’s launched a shop-in-shop concept with Babies”R”Us and buybuy Baby had a small but unsuccessful relaunch after being sold. That has left consumers with fractured options, including e-commerce only, department stores, mass merchants and local boutiques. Target’s push could propel it into the national leader role for the category, and also help the brand to revitalize itself after a challenging 2025 performance.
Looking at some of the insights behind this new pivot, it’s clear that Target is hoping to capture the attention of shoppers who would have normally shopped at the former buybuy Baby. According to Placer.ai’s foot traffic combined with Personalive consumer segmentation, Target’s shopper profile looks very similar to that of buybuy Baby during its operation. Specifically, the share of visits by Wealthy Suburban Families, Near Urban Diverse Families and Ultra Wealthy Families are all very closely aligned between the two chains, indicating that Target’s strategy could easily entrench itself with today’s consumer.
Despite the battle for national attention, there have also been innovations on a smaller scale in baby products. Babylist, a popular digitally native registry service, opened its first brick and mortar location in Beverly Hills in 2023, bringing the showroom experience to life for shoppers who want to test and learn before committing to baby gear. Baby items, particularly in hardlines like car seats and strollers, tend to be large ticket items, and many parents still want that tactile experience while shopping.
According to Placer’s foot traffic insights, the location has been successful in attracting the right customer base. The store allows shoppers to gain product knowledge and compare brands and models by category, making it easier to plan an online baby registry more effectively. Traffic has grown over the last year to the showroom, and the store's audience over-indexes for Ultra Wealthy Families, which both could drive conversion to the online marketplace.
Another group that has a high share of visits are Sunset Boomers, which would account for potential new grandparents. Grandparents are a vital shopper base for baby retailers, as they have higher levels of disposable income and are often purchasing gifts for others. Target could benefit from the buy-in of this group as it continues its journey into the world of baby-focused retail.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
The Men’s Final Four tips off this week in Indianapolis, IN, with UConn, Illinois, Arizona, and Michigan all vying for the title. While much of the attention will center on the action inside Lucas Oil Stadium, the experience extends far beyond the court, with a series of events unfolding across downtown. To better understand the impact of this multi-day spectacle, we looked back at last year’s Final Four in San Antonio, TX – examining the moments that drove meaningful consumer engagement and what they could signal for this year’s conclusion to March Madness.
Much like this year’s Final Four in Indianapolis, IN, the 2025 event in San Antonio, TX was spread over several days and multiple downtown locations. The Alamodome hosted the semifinals and national championship, while Fan Fest – a hub for sponsor activations, presentations, and interactive experiences – took place at the nearby Henry B. González Convention Center. Just outside, in Hemisfair’s Tower Park and Civic Park, free concerts, watch parties, giveaways, and games captured fan engagement beyond the arena.
AI-powered analysis of the 2025 Final Four revealed that fans attending a semifinal or national championship game were likely to have a higher household income (HHI) than visitors to other Final Four events – a trend consistent with the premium ticket prices associated with a national tournament. The free or low-cost admission to Fan Fest, Tip-Off Tailgate, and the Music Festival, on the other hand, meant that visitors to the convention center and Hemisfair were more likely to have a household income aligned with state and nationwide benchmarks.
This underscores the importance of layered engagement during a high-profile sporting event. Not every fan will splurge on game tickets, but a diverse mix of accessible experiences allows a broader audience to participate. By investing in these touchpoints, organizers expand the event’s reach and amplify its overall impact.
A deeper dive into the 2025 Final Four highlights how each venue attracted a distinct audience segment – working together to create a more complete, destination-worthy experience for a wide range of fans.
Trade area analysis underscores the differences between the events at each venue. The games at the Alamodome drew a significant share of out-of-town visitors, with more than half traveling over 250 miles. Fan Fest at the convention center skewed far more local, with nearly 70% of visitors coming from within 100 miles.
Meanwhile, music and tailgate events at Hemisfair struck a balance between the two. The venue’s proximity to the stadium, combined with a lineup of high-profile artists, likely made it a natural stop for traveling fans already in town for the games. At the same time, the open-air activities appear to have resonated with local audiences, many of whom may have paired their visit with the nearby Fan Fest at the convention center.
First, this year's Fan Fest and Tip-Off Tailgate in Indianapolis may possess an even stronger local skew than last year's. The addition of the Division II and Division III championships alongside the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) at nearby Gainbridge Fieldhouse introduces more budget-friendly viewing options – a factor that may attract even more local fans. This shift may benefit certain sponsor activations while limiting the reach of others, depending on their target audience.
Second, headline concerts can serve as a powerful draw for out-of-town visitors. And when scheduled before the games, these performances may encourage longer stays – as visitors who travel from afar are likely to remain through the championship game – providing a more sustained hotel and tourism lift across the full event window.
Taken together, these findings reinforce the importance of a multi-layered event strategy. By offering varied experiences that appeal to different audiences, organizers can maximize engagement and elevate the overall impact of a high-profile sporting showcase like the Final Four.
A closer look at the Hemisfair district – home to the Final Four’s Music Festival and Tip-Off Tailgate in 2025 – further highlights the potential of these events to drive local consumer engagement.
Relative to the 2025 daily visit average, traffic during the 2025 Final Four weekend (most notably, April 4th to 6th) ranked as the second-busiest stretch of the year for Hemisfair – surpassed only by the Saturday of Muertos Fest on October 25th.
This visit spike underscores the outsized role of ancillary programming in driving visitation – an effect that can be expected from the 2026 Final Four events as well. But unlike 2025’s closely clustered setup, the 2026 event hubs are set a short distance apart in Indianapolis’s downtown core. This could encourage pedestrian movement along connecting corridors – increasing retail and dining exposure and broadening the tournament’s economic impact.
All eyes will be on this week’s matchups between the final four teams, as the nation awaits the crowning of a new college basketball champion.
But if last year’s Final Four is any indication, the impact will extend well beyond the court. The broader ecosystem of multi-day programming is poised to drive local consumer engagement, reinforcing the tournament’s role as a catalyst for foot traffic and economic activity.
For more in-depth event insights, visit Placer.ai/anchor.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
Following a difficult 2025, Target appears to be on a recovery path. Weekly visits from February 2 to March 22, 2026 rose 6.6% to 10.3% year over year, suggesting that the company's turnaround strategy – which includes improving its product assortment and in-store experience – is beginning to deliver results.
In-store traffic volume during the company's recent Circle Days also suggest that a turnaround is on the horizon. Average daily visits during this year's Circle Days (March 25th to 27th 2026) were 2.9% and 5.9% higher than the comparable spring events in 2024 and 2025, respectively – despite those prior events benefiting from weekend days. (In 2024 and 2025, Target's spring Circle Day promotion ran for seven days.) Traffic was also higher compared to the YTD same-weekday average – that shoppers are returning to Target, with Circle Days further boosting already elevated traffic levels.
Target’s early-2026 performance suggests its turnaround efforts are beginning to resonate, supported by investments in stores, staffing, and merchandising aimed at improving the in-store experience. Encouraging traffic trends – including stronger performance during Circle Days despite already elevated baseline visits – point to renewed shopper engagement. If Target can sustain this momentum beyond promotional periods, it appears well positioned for stabilization and modest growth in 2026.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
The grocery industry has navigated unprecedented challenges in recent years – from pandemic-driven shifts in consumer behavior and supply chain disruptions to rising costs, labor shortages, and increased operational demands. In the face of these hurdles, the category has been pushed to innovate, adapting everything from product selections to shopping formats to meet changing consumer expectations.
But within the grocery industry, some segments resonate particularly strongly with the 2024 consumer. This white paper dives into the data to explore two segments that have been leading category-wide visit growth for some time: specialty and fresh format stores, which focus on produce, organic foods, and culturally specific items (think Trader Joe’s, Sprouts Farmers Market, and H Mart, to name a few), and value grocery chains like Aldi, WinCo Foods, and Grocery Outlet Bargain Market. Location analytics show shoppers are increasingly drawn to these two grocery store types, a shift that has the potential to reshape the grocery landscape.
How did value and specialty grocery chains perform in Q3 2024 in comparison to traditional supermarkets like Kroger, Albertsons, and H-E-B? How does visitor behavior vary between the three grocery segments, and what differences can be observed in the demographic and psychographic make-ups of their trade areas? The report explores these questions and more below.
The grocery industry has performed well over the past few months, with steady weekly year-over-year (YoY) visit increases throughout Q3 2024. During the week of July 1st, the segment saw a 4.6% YoY foot traffic boost, likely driven by shoppers loading up on ingredients for Independence Day barbecues and picnics. And after tapering somewhat in early August, visits picked up again in September, with YoY increases ranging from 2.0% to 2.9% throughout the month. This positive growth is a good sign for the segment – which has experienced more than its fair share of challenges over the past few years.
Though the grocery category as a whole is thriving, a closer look at different segments within the industry reveals that some are seeing more significant growth than others.
Indeed, digging deeper into grocery visits throughout Q3 2024 reveals that much of the industry’s growth is being driven by specialty and fresh format stores and value grocery chains. The two segments offer markedly different shopping experiences: Specialty chains tend to emphasize harder-to-find ingredients and fresh produce – sometimes even at higher price points than traditional grocery stores – while value grocery stores focus on affordability. But both categories are experiencing outsize visit growth in 2024, highlighting consumers’ dual interest in both quality and value.
In July and August 2024, traditional supermarkets, specialty grocers, and value chains all experienced positive YoY visit growth. But while traditional grocery stores saw a 3.1% increase in July and just a 0.9% uptick in August, value and specialty chains saw YoY growth ranging from 4.7% to 7.7% during the two months. In September 2024, YoY visits to traditional grocery stores fell by 0.5%, while value and specialty chains saw 5.0% and 5.2% increases, respectively. For today’s consumer, it seems, savings are key – but specialty offerings also resonate strongly.
Today’s grocery shoppers are increasingly embracing specialty grocery options – and analyzing consumer driving habits to grocery stores shows that they are willing to go the extra mile to reach them.
Breaking down grocery visits by distance traveled reveals that just 18.5% of visits to specialty and fresh format grocery chains came from less than one mile away in Q3 2024 – compared to 23.9% for traditional grocery stores and 23.2% for value chains. Similarly, 31.3% of visits to specialty and fresh format grocery stores originated from one to three miles away, compared to 34.7% and 34.5% for the other analyzed segments.
On the flip side, some 26.4% of visits to specialty and fresh format stores were made by people traveling at least seven miles to do their shopping – compared to 22.7% and 21.4% for traditional and value chains, respectively. Specialty grocery operators can account for this difference, locating stores in areas accessible to geographically dispersed audiences eager to shop their unique offerings.
And a look at changes in visitor behavior at three key specialty chains – Trader Joe’s, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Great Wall Supermarket – shows that even as these brands expand their footprints, customers are increasingly willing to travel the distance to visit them. Between 2019 and 2024, all three chains saw a marked increase in the share of visitors traveling over seven miles to shop their offerings. .
Asian grocery chain Great Wall Supermarket, a relatively small regional chain with some 22 locations across eight states, saw the most significant increase in visits from afar over the analyzed period. In Q3 2024, 32.3% of visits to the chain originated from seven or more miles away, up from 28.3% in Q3 2019. Ranked America’s Best Supermarket by Newsweek in 2024, the chain’s wide selection of everything from seafood to fresh produce has made it a hit among Asian food aficionados – and as the supermarket’s reputation grows, so does its draw among customers living further away from its venues.
Consumer favorite Trader Joe’s and organic grocery chain Sprouts Farmers Market also grew their shares of long-distance visits between 2019 and 2024 – no small feat for the two chains, given their expansion over the past several years.
This travel distance snapshot serves as a reminder of the unique role played by specialty grocery stores that offer their customers unique shopping experiences, premium or organic products, and culturally specific items. Shoppers will go out of their way to travel to these stores – and even as they expand and become more readily accessible, their growing popularity makes them ever-more attractive destinations for customers coming from further away.
While visitors to specialty grocery chains often travel long distances for unique offerings, cost-conscious consumers at value stores exhibit other behaviors that differentiate them from traditional and specialty grocery shoppers.
The rising cost of living has pushed the discount retail segment into overdrive – and value grocery chains are also benefiting. The category has flourished in recent years, with many bargain-oriented grocery chains adding new stores at a rapid clip to meet burgeoning consumer demand.
Like visitors to specialty grocery chains, value grocery shoppers demonstrate segment-specific behaviors that reflect their preferences and habits. And perhaps most strikingly, foot traffic data reveals that these shoppers tend to stay longer in-store than visitors to traditional and specialty grocery chains.
In Q3 2024, 26.5% of visits to value grocery chains lasted longer than 30 minutes, compared to 23.4% for traditional grocery chains and 23.7% for specialty and fresh format chains. This suggests that these stores attract shoppers who take their time and carefully consider price points, looking for the best value for their dollar – a need that the chains they frequent seem to be meeting.
Given the tremendous success of the value grocery space in recent years, it may come as no surprise that some traditional supermarkets are getting in on the action by opening or expanding discount banners of their own. How do such off-shoot banners impact these grocers’ reach?
Cult-favorite Texas grocery chain H-E-B opened the first branch of its value banner, Joe V’s Smart Shop, in 2010. The discount arm currently includes 11 stores – mainly in the Houston area – with several new stores opening, or in planning stages, in Dallas.
And foot traffic data shows that Joe V's attracts mission-driven shoppers who make less frequent but significantly longer trips than visitors to traditional grocery stores. In Q3 2024, the average visit duration at Joe V’s was 37.8 minutes, compared to just 26.8 minutes at H-E-B – a full 11 minute difference. At the same time, while 38.5% of Q3 visits to H-E-B were made by customers frequenting the chain, on average, at least four times a month, just 11.8% of visits to Joe V’s were made by visitors reaching that threshold.
Joe V’s is also more likely than H-E-B to attract parental households, with 36.8% of its captured market made up of households with children – significantly higher than H-E-B’s 32.0%.
Together, these data points paint a picture of the average Joe V’s shopper: cost-conscious, likely to have children, and inclined to carefully plan shopping trips to maximize savings and cut down on grocery runs. This suggests that they are mission-driven and focused on stocking up rather than running out to grab ingredients as the need arises.
Major grocery store operators often operate a variety of store types at different price points to appeal to as many shoppers as possible, and Hy-Vee is no exception. The regional grocery favorite launched a discount chain, Dollar Fresh, in 2018 and currently operates 25 stores under that banner, aiming to attract middle-class, cost-conscious shoppers.
Using Experian’s Mosaic dataset to analyze Dollar Fresh’s trade area reveals that the chain’s captured market features significantly higher shares of lower-middle-class family consumers than its potential one – highlighting its special draw for these shoppers. (A chain’s potential market is obtained by weighting each Census Block Group (CBG) in its trade area according to population size, thus reflecting the overall makeup of the chain’s trade area. A business’ captured market, on the other hand, is obtained by weighting each CBG according to its share of visits to the chain in question – and thus represents the profile of its actual visitor base. Comparing a chain’s captured market to its potential one can serve as a helpful gauge of the brand’s success at attracting key audience segments.)
In Q3 2024, the “Pastoral Pride” family segment represented 11.4% of Dollar Fresh’s captured market, compared to just 5.3% of its potential market. This over-representation of lower-middle-class consumers from small towns in Dollar Fresh’s captured market indicates that the chain is especially effective at drawing customers that belong to this segment. Though Hy-Vee’s captured market also boasted a higher share of this demographic than its potential one in Q3, the difference was much smaller – and the chain’s overall reach among these consumers was more limited.
In contrast, Hy-Vee excels at attracting “Flourishing Families” – affluent, middle-aged families and couples – who made up 10.3% of the supermarket’s captured market in Q3 2024. Dollar Fresh’s captured market, on the other hand, featured a smaller share of this segment than its potential one – showing that the discount chain is of less interest to these consumers. So while Hy-Vee tends to appeal to higher-income families with more spending flexibility, value-conscious shoppers have been making their way to Dollar Fresh.
This audience segmentation analysis shows how value offerings help grocery chains attract wider audiences – and highlights the advantage of operating multiple store types to appeal to a broader range of shoppers.
People will always need access to a variety of fresh foods – ensuring that grocery stores and supermarkets continue to play a vital role in in the retail landscape. And while the category as a whole has continued to thrive even in today’s challenging environment, specialty and value grocery chains resonate particularly strongly with the 2024 consumer. As grocery retailers diversify their formats, those aligning with consumer preferences for affordability, uniqueness, and quality are well-positioned for continued growth.
Malls have come a long way since their introduction to the world in the 1950s. These gleaming retail hubs promised shoppers a taste of the American dream, offering a third place for teens, families, and everyone in between to shop, socialize, and hang out.
And though malls have faced challenges in recent years, as e-commerce and pandemic-induced store closures led to shifts in consumer habits, the outlook is brightening. Malls have embraced innovation, incorporating enhanced entertainment, dining, and experiential offerings that attract a diverse range of visitors and redefine their purpose.
This white paper takes a look at the recent location intelligence metrics to gain an understanding of the changes taking place at malls across the country – including both indoor malls and open-air shopping centers. The report explores questions like: Why do malls experience foot traffic bumps during the summer months? How much of an impact do movie theaters have on mall visits, and what can mall operators learn from the Mall of America and American Dream malls’ focus on experiential entertainment?
Mall visitation is highly seasonal, with strikingly consistent monthly visitation patterns. Each year, visits decline somewhat in February, pick up in March, and begin to trend upward again in May – before peaking again in August. Then, after a slower September and October, foot traffic skyrockets during the holiday season, spiking dramatically in December.
And while these trends follow similar patterns every year, comparing monthly visits throughout 2019, 2023, and 2024 (YTD) to each year’s own January baseline shows that this seasonality is growing more pronounced - especially for indoor malls.
Following a lackluster 2023, visits to both indoor malls and open-air shopping centers peaked higher in March 2024 than in 2019. And this summer, indoor malls in particular saw a much larger visit boost than in previous years. In August 2024, for example, visits to indoor malls were 27.3% higher than in January 2024 – a substantially higher baseline jump than that seen either in August 2019 (17.0%) or in August 2023 (12.0%). And though open-air shopping centers experienced a smaller summer visit boost, they too saw a bigger bump this year than in 2019 or in 2023.
But malls aren’t just seeing larger visit spikes this year relative to their January baselines – they are also drawing bigger crowds than they did in 2023.
Between June and August 2024, indoor malls and open-air shopping centers both experienced year-over-year (YoY) visit growth. Indoor malls saw the largest YoY foot traffic boost (3.7%) – perhaps owing in part to 2024’s record-breaking heat, which led many patrons to seek refuge in air conditioned spaces. Still, open-air shopping centers, which feature plenty of air conditioned stores and restaurants, also enjoyed a YoY visit boost of 2.8% during the analyzed period.
Malls’ strong summer baseline and YoY foot traffic growth built upon the strong performance seen during most of 2024 so far, leading to the question: What is driving malls’ positive momentum? We delve into some of the factors propelling these changes below.
One offering that continues to play a significant role in driving foot traffic to malls is on-site movie theaters. Summer blockbuster releases, in particular, help attract crowds to theaters, in turn boosting overall visits to malls.
Much like malls, movie theaters have also proven their resilience over the past few years. While pundits fretted about the theater’s impending death, production houses were busy releasing blockbuster after blockbuster and shattering box-office records at an impressive clip. And while 2023 was certainly a banner year for blockbuster summer releases, 2024 has had its fair share of stunning box-office successes, leading to major visit boosts at theaters across the country.
Analyzing visits to malls with and without movie theaters highlights the impact of these summer Hollywood hits. Between June and August 2024, malls with theaters saw bigger visit boosts compared to a monthly year-to-date (YTD) average than malls without – an effect observed both for indoor malls and for open-air shopping centers.
For both mall types, the gap between centers with and without movie theaters was most pronounced in July 2024, likely owing to the release of Inside Out 2 in mid-June as well as the July releases of Deadpool & Wolverine and Twister. But in June and August 2024, too, centers with movie theaters sustained particularly impressive visit boosts – a solid sign that movie theaters and malls remain a winning combination.
Malls with movie theaters also drew higher shares of evening visits (7:00 PM - 10:00 PM) this summer than those without. Between June and August 2024, for example, evening outings accounted for 22.9% of visits to open-air shopping centers with movie theaters – compared to 18.2% of visits to centers without theaters. Indoor malls with theaters also saw a larger share of evening visits than those without – 18.1% compared to 15.0%.
This increase in evening traffic is likely driven by major summer movie releases and the flexibility of summer schedules, with many visitors – including families – taking advantage of late-night outings without the concern of early wakeup calls. These summer visitation trends benefit both theaters and malls, opening up opportunities for increased sales through concessions, promotions, and evening deals that attract a more relaxed and engaged crowd.
Analyzing the demographics of malls’ captured markets also reveals that centers with movie theaters are more likely to attract certain family-oriented segments than those without. (A mall’s captured market consists of the mall’s trade areas – the census block groups (CBGs) feeding visitors to the mall – weighted according to each CBG’s actual share of visits to the mall.)
Between June and August 2024, for example, 14.2% of the captured markets of open-air shopping centers with movie theaters were made up of “Wealthy Suburban Families” – compared to 9.7% for open-air shopping centers without theaters.
Indoor malls saw a similar pattern with regard to “Near-Urban Diverse Families”: Middle class families living in and around cities made up 9.0% of the captured markets of indoor malls with movie theaters, compared to 7.1% of the captured markets of those without.
This increase in foot traffic from middle-class and wealthy family segments can be a boon for malls and retail tenants – driving up food court profits and bolstering sales at stores with kid-friendly offerings.
Malls have long positioned themselves as destinations for summer entertainment as well as retail therapy, holding – in addition to back to school sales – events like Fourth of July celebrations and even indoor basketball and arena football games. And during the summer months, malls attract visitors from further away.
Between June and August 2024, indoor malls drew 18.2% of visitors from 30+ miles away – compared to just 16.7% during the first five months of the year. Similarly, open-air shopping centers drew 19.6% of visits from 30+ miles away during the summer, compared to 17.1% between January and May.
Extended daylight hours, summer trips away from home, and more free time are likely among the contributors to the summer draw for long-distance mall visitors. But in addition to their classic offerings – from movie theaters to stores and food courts – malls have also invested in other kinds of unique experiences to attract visitors. This next section takes a look at two mega-malls winning at the visitation game, to see what sets them apart.
The Minneapolis-based Mall of America opened in 1992, redefining the limits of what a mall could offer. The mall boasts hundreds of stores, games, rides, and more – and is constantly expanding its attractions, cementing its status as a top destination for retail and entertainment.
Between June and August 2024, Mall of America experienced a 13.8% YoY visit increase, far outperforming the 3.7% visit boost seen by the wider indoor mall space. And as a major tourist attraction – the mall hosted a series of Olympic-themed events throughout the summer – it also drew 41.6% of visits from 30+ miles away. This share of distant visitors was significantly higher than that seen at the mall during the first five months of 2024, and more than double the segment-wide summer average of 18.2%.
The Mall of America also seems to be attracting more upper-middle-class families during the summer than other indoor malls: Between June and August 2024, some 18.0% of Mall of America’s captured market consisted of “Upper Suburban Diverse Family Households” – a segment including upper-middle-class suburbanites – compared to just 11.1% for the wider indoor mall segment. The increased presence of these families at the Mall of America may be driven by the variety of events offered during the summer.
In 2019, the American Dream Mall in New Jersey opened and became the second-largest mall in the country. Since the mall opened its doors, it has also focused on blending retail and entertainment to draw in as wide a range of visitors as possible – and summer 2024 was no exception.
The mall hosted the Arena Football League Championship, ArenaBowl XXXIII, on Friday, July 19th. The event successfully attracted a higher share of visitors traveling from 30+ miles away compared to the average summer Friday – 35.4% compared to 25.7%.
Visits to the mall on the day of the championship were also 13.6% higher than the Friday visit average for the period between June and August 2024, showcasing the mall’s ability to draw in crowds by hosting major events.
Malls – both indoor and open-air – continue to evolve while playing a central role in the American retail landscape. Increasingly, malls are emerging as destinations for more than just shopping – especially during the summer – driving up foot traffic and attracting visitors from near and far. And while much is often said about the impact of holiday seasons on mall foot traffic, summer months offer another opportunity to boost mall visits. Malls that can curate experiences that resonate with their clientele can hope to see foot traffic growth – in the summer months and beyond.
New York City is one of the world’s leading commercial centers – and Manhattan, home to some of the nation's most prominent corporations, is at its epicenter. Manhattan’s substantial in-office workforce has helped make New York a post-pandemic office recovery leader, outpacing most other major U.S. hubs. And the plethora of healthcare, service, and other on-site workers that keep the island humming along also contribute to its thriving employment landscape.
Using the latest location analytics, this report examines the shifting dynamics of the many on-site workers employed in Manhattan and the up-and-coming Hudson Yards neighborhood. Where does today’s Manhattan workforce come from? How often do on-site employees visit Hudson Yards? And how has the share of young professionals across Manhattan’s different districts shifted since the pandemic?
Read on to find out.
The rise in work-from-home (WFH) trends during the pandemic and the persistence of hybrid work have changed the face of commuting in Manhattan.
In Q2 2019, nearly 60% of employee visits to Manhattan originated off the island. But in Q2 2021, that share fell to just 43.9% – likely due to many commuters avoiding public transportation and practicing social distancing during COVID.
Since Q2 2022, however, the share of employee visits to Manhattan from outside the borough has rebounded – steadily approaching, but not yet reaching, pre-pandemic levels. By Q2 2024, 54.7% of employee visits to Manhattan originated from elsewhere – likely a reflection of the Big Apple’s accelerated RTO that is drawing in-office workers back into the city.
Unsurprisingly, some nearby boroughs – including Queens and the Bronx – have seen their share of Manhattan worker visits bounce back to what they were in 2019, while further-away areas of New York and New Jersey continue to lag behind. But Q2 2024 also saw an increase in the share of Manhattan workers commuting from other states – both compared to 2023 and compared to 2019 – perhaps reflecting the rise of super commuting.
Commuting into Manhattan is on the rise – but how often are employees making the trip? Diving into the data for employees based in Hudson Yards – Manhattan’s newest retail, office, and residential hub, which was officially opened to the public in March 2019 – reveals that the local workforce favors fewer in-person work days than in the past.
In August 2019, before the pandemic, 60.2% of Hudson Yards-based employees visited the neighborhood at least fifteen times. But by August 2021, the neighborhood’s share of near-full-time on-site workers had begun to drop – and it has declined ever since. In August 2024, only 22.6% of local workers visited the neighborhood 15+ times throughout the month. Meanwhile, the share of Hudson Yards-based employees making an appearance between five and nine times during the month emerged as the most common visit frequency by August 2022 – and has continued to increase since. In August 2024, 25.0% of employees visited the neighborhood less than five times a month, 32.5% visited between five and nine times, and 19.2% visited between 10 and 14 times.
Like other workers throughout Manhattan, Hudson Yards employees seem to have fully embraced the new hybrid normal – coming into the office between one and four times a week.
But not all employment centers in the Hudson Yards neighborhood see the same patterns of on-site work. Some of the newest office buildings in the area appear to attract employees more frequently and from further away than other properties.
Of the Hudson Yards properties analyzed, Two Manhattan West, which was completed this year, attracted the largest share of frequent, long-distance commuters in August 2024 (15.3%) – defined as employees visiting 10+ times per month from at least 30 miles away. And The Spiral, which opened last year, drew the second-largest share of such on-site workers (12.3%).
Employees in these skyscrapers may prioritize in-person work – or have been encouraged by their employers to return to the office – more than their counterparts in other Hudson Yards buildings. Employees may also choose to come in more frequently to enjoy these properties’ newer and more advanced amenities. And service and shift workers at these properties may also be coming in more frequently to support the buildings’ elevated occupancy.
Diving deeper into the segmentation of on-site employees in the Hudson Yards district provides further insight into this unique on-site workforce.
Analysis of POIs corresponding to several commercial and office hubs in the borough reveals that between August 2019 and August 2024, Hudson Yards’ captured market had the fastest-growing share of employees belonging to STI: Landscape's “Apprentices” segment, which encompasses young, highly-paid professionals in urban settings.
Companies looking to attract young talent have already noticed that these young professionals are receptive to Hudson Yards’ vibrant atmosphere and collaborative spaces, and describe this as a key factor in their choice to lease local offices.
Manhattan is a bastion of commerce, and its strong on-site workforce has helped lead the nation’s post-pandemic office recovery. But the dynamics of the many Manhattan-based workers continues to shift. And as new commercial and residential hubs emerge on the island, workplace trends and the characteristics of employees are almost certain to evolve with them.
