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Summer often brings out the latest fashion trends as consumers head for coastal cities, the beach, summer vacations, and the pool. Sometimes we see new trends catch fire altogether, but summer also tends to signal to shoppers that it’s time to revitalize classic products or items already in their closets in new ways.
L.L.Bean, the outdoor lifestyle retailer and brand, has always been at the center of repeat trends. Its New England heritage lends itself to fashion moments centered around preppy or Americana dressing, and its staple products like the L.L.Bean Boot and Boat and Tote have become longstanding favorites.
Over the past few years, the Boat and Tote product specifically has had its own renaissance as consumers once again flocked to this classic style. Another trend that we can thank TikTok for, the bag became a viral sensation in 2022 as creators would embroider ironic sayings onto their bags instead of the traditional monogram offered. This year appears to be a reinvigoration of this trend, and with new inspirations coming into the fold, such as the “Boatkin”, there is plenty of runway left for the Boat & Tote to keep L.L.Bean top of mind for shoppers. The Boat & Tote also reflects the change in consumer behavior over the last few years relating to branded products and logos – consumers are opting for more subtle designs without logos that can be used for everyday activities.
L.L.Bean retail locations have certainly benefited from the virality of the Boat & Tote. Looking at 2025 traffic performance year-to-date, visits are up almost 15% compared to 2024. Against the backdrop of challenging traffic for many retail chains, this number is even more impressive.
L.L.Bean stores also fit the mold of the current formula that is working in retail – large format stores that offer a wide variety of experiences, assortments, and services that keep customers engaged for longer, with the average dwell time at 32 minutes. Related to the renaissance of the Boat and Tote in 2025, L.L.Bean stores recently added a bag charm bar to locations for consumers to adorn their bags in unique ways, leaning into current trends being seen across the accessories category. Concepts like the charm bar could make the difference in consumers choosing to shop in store instead of simply ordering online.
L.L.Bean’s focus on its iconic products despite the change in trends over time has served the brand in attracting new shoppers with each passing generation. The chain attracts visitors across suburban and rural families, Young Professionals as well as Sunset Boomers. Different generations of consumers have all found their way to L.L.Bean retail locations for different reasons, but the core products that remain have outlasted other trends.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Office supplies behemoth Staples has faced a challenging few years, contending with stiff competition from online rivals and evolving office visit trends that have reduced demand for some of its core products. Consumer cutbacks in discretionary spending driven by recent inflationary pressures have also taken their toll on the retailer, which has closed dozens of stores over the past several years.
But by remaining agile and pivoting towards services and B2B offerings, Staples has defied expectations – showing how retailers can succeed by staying in tune with shifting consumer needs and habits. We dove into the data to explore Staples’ recent visit growth and some of the factors behind its current success.
Last month, Staples brought back its iconic “That Was Easy!” button, highlighting the chain’s mission to simplify customers’ lives through products and solutions. But though Staples’ impressive traffic resurgence might appear to have been effortless, its current growth is the result of a carefully orchestrated pivot towards meeting the practical demands of shoppers in 2025.
In addition to its staple (pun intended) office and school supplies, Staples is ramping up its business-focused services. The chain recently began a pilot with Verizon to expand its tech offerings – with the explicit purpose of offering the telecom giant access to more small business visitors. The company has also expanded its onsite services, offering everything from print-while-you-wait to travel-related options like passport photos.
And a look at Staples’ foot traffic over the past several months shows these efforts are paying off. Since January 2025, visits and average visits per location to Staples have been consistently elevated year over year (YoY), with the sole exception of February, when retailers across categories were impacted by stormy weather and the comparison to a leap year. And as the year has worn on, Staples’ visitation trends have only gotten stronger, with June seeing a 10.3% increase in overall foot traffic and a 13.2% increase in average visits per location compared to 2024.
Despite the challenges of the past several years – and the closure of dozens of stores since 2019 – Staples’ foot traffic is also now higher than it was pre-COVID. In Q2 2025, overall visits to the chain exceeded Q2 2019 levels by 5.6%. And each open store is seeing far more foot traffic than it did before the pandemic, with average visits per location rising by 23.9% over the same period.
Location analytics reinforce the notion that it is Staples’ pivot to services and B2B solutions that is largely fueling this comeback.
August, for example, has traditionally been Staples’ busiest month of the year, as students and families descend on the chain to stock up on back-to-school supplies. But in recent years, the month has become less of an outlier, with traffic spread more evenly across the calendar.
Moreover, the number of frequent visitors to Staples – i.e. those who return to the chain multiple times per month – has grown steadily since 2019. Between H1 2019 and H1 2025, the share of customers visiting Staples at least twice a month on average edged up from 12.0% to 12.8%, and the proportion of those making three or more monthly visits climbed from 3.5% to 4.9%. This shift points to a consumer base increasingly reliant on Staples for ongoing needs rather than episodic purchases.
Staples’ recent visit success sheds light on the power of pivoting to meet shifting consumer demands. By emphasizing services and leaning into B2B offerings, Staples has transformed itself into a go-to destination for new audiences – reinforcing the importance of adaptability and innovation in retail.
For more data-driven retail analyses, visit Placer.ai/anchor.
2025 is shaping up to be the year of the RTO mandate. Local governments and companies across industries – from AT&T to Amazon and Starbucks – have introduced stricter in-person requirements, with some even shifting back to a full five-day, in-office work week. Still, rolling out these mandates hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing, and many workplaces still strive to strike a balance between RTO and WFH.
So how are these trends unfolding on the ground? Did the office recovery continue to stagnate as it did in May, or did the start of the summer reignite RTO momentum? We dove into the data to find out.
After losing a bit of steam in May, office visits regained their stride in June 2025. Foot traffic to the Placer.ai Nationwide Office Index was just 27.4% below pre-COVID (2019) levels – a significant improvement from June 2024, when it was down by 32.9%. While part of this uptick can be attributed to June 2024 having one fewer working day (19, compared to 20 in both 2019 and 2025), the data nevertheless points to meaningful RTO progress.
And looking at monthly fluctuations in office visits since June 2019 further highlights the month’s strong performance. Despite having only 20 working days, June 2025 ranked as the fourth busiest in-office month since the pandemic, trailing only October 2024, July 2024, and April 2025 – each with 22 working days.
Once again, Miami and New York led the RTO charge, with both cities nearing a full post-pandemic recovery. Miami posted just a 4.2% gap compared to June 2019, while New York recorded a 5.3% deficit – putting them both well ahead of the nationwide average. Sunbelt cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston also outperformed the U.S. overall, reflecting a robust return to workplaces in these regions.
Most of the cities analyzed also saw notable year-over-year (YoY) gains in June 2025 – partly attributable to this June’s extra work day. Los Angeles was the only hub to experience a YoY gap – potentially linked to last month’s local protests, which may have disrupted commuting routines for some employees. Houston, for its part, lapping a storm-ridden June 2024, recorded an impressive 17.2% YoY bump. And though San Francisco remained farthest from its pre-pandemic attendance levels, the city maintained its strong YoY streak, suggesting steady recovery in its tech-heavy landscape.
Overall, June’s data indicates that RTO mandates and hybrid strategies are helping fuel a meaningful rebound in office attendance. While the road to full recovery is still unfolding, these positive trends point to an office environment that is very much alive and evolving.
How will the RTO continue to develop as the year progresses? Follow Placer.ai/anchor for more office visitation insights.
Consumer anticipation of potential tariffs on goods in 2025 has varied across retail categories. Some segments allow consumers to plan purchases far in advance, while others require a “read and react” approach. In general, consumers appear to have followed the latter strategy from late April to June 2025, as year-over-year (YoY) foot traffic returned to levels more in line with long-term trends. Still, this may shift as summer progresses.
One specific category that has been interesting to watch is baby products. Because these purchases are tied to specific life events, they tend to be driven by necessity rather than desire – leaving shoppers with little flexibility to time their buying. At the same time, baby items may face a disproportionate impact from potential tariffs due to their manufacturing sources, giving consumers an incentive to make purchases sooner rather than later.
Against this backdrop, have consumers changed their visit behavior regarding baby products? Data from baby registry Babylist’s physical showroom in Beverly Hills, CA – where customers can test and browse items in person before adding them to a registry – indicates that anticipation of tariffs may indeed be influencing shopping patterns in this space. Starting in April 2025, visits to the showroom began to rise, peaking in May before settling (though still elevated) in June. This trend suggests that new and expecting parents may have pulled forward purchases in order to secure products before potential price hikes, especially on higher-ticket items like strollers, car seats, or furniture.
An analysis of Babylist’s trade area using the STI:PopStats dataset shows that it caters to an affluent demographic: Between January and May 2025, the showroom’s captured market had a median household income of $112.6K, well above both nationwide ($79.6K) and California ($99.3K) baselines. This speaks to the notion that even higher-income consumers could be concerned about future price increases and potential shifts in demand due to tariffs.
Kohl’s provides another window into these shifts. Last fall, Kohl’s launched Babies”R”Us shop-in-shops across nearly 200 locations to expand its assortment and attract and retain shoppers. In our analyses of the program during the first few months post-launch, there hadn’t been much improvement in visitation trends compared to the total store fleet – and for most of early 2025, visits to the stores with Babies”R”Us underperformed the chainwide average.
However, in May and June 2025, Kohl’s locations featuring Babies”R”Us outpaced the chainwide YoY foot traffic. While overall visits were still down, these specific stores saw smaller declines than their counterparts.
One possible factor behind this trend may be the demographic mix at Kohl’s with Babies”R”Us. These stores draw more family-oriented visitor segments – such as Wealthy Suburban Families, Upper Suburban Diverse Families and Near-Urban Diverse Families – than the overall Kohl’s fleet. The family orientation of the Kohl’s + Babies”R”Us stores and the potential focus on the baby category in the midst of potential socioeconomic changes may have combined to help improve the trend at these sites.
How should retailers that carry baby items respond? The baby category is poised to be greatly disrupted due to potential tariff implementation and price increases are likely to hit store shelves. Consumers, for their parts, are clearly aware of potential cost changes and are reacting quickly to adjust their retail behavior. Retailers will need to continue to communicate value and product knowledge to shoppers, especially first-time parents. And creative problem solving will be critical to maintaining product assortment and quality for shoppers over the months and years to come.
About the Mall Index: The Index analyzes data from 100 top-tier indoor malls, 100 open-air shopping centers (not including outlet malls) and 100 outlet malls across the country, in both urban and suburban areas. Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the country.
In June 2025, shopping center traffic fell slightly following two straight months of year-over-year (YoY) visit growth – although indoor malls continued to show the strongest performance, with just a 0.7% drop in YoY June visits. (Open-air shopping centers and outlet malls saw YoY visit declines of 1.6% and 4.4%.)
The course reversal may suggest that the visit growth in April and May was at least partially driven by a pull-forward of consumer demand in anticipation of tariff-driven price hikes. By June, many of those purchases had likely already been made, and the resulting downturn in mall visits might represent a natural normalization of traffic rather than a new weakness in consumer demand.
Still, despite the June slow-down, shopping center traffic was mostly positive in H1 2025. Indoor malls led the pack, with YoY visits up 1.8%, while open-air shopping centers saw visits grow 0.6% YoY and outlet mall traffic remained relatively flat at -0.8%. And all mall formats experienced a rise in average visit duration – with indoor malls once again seeing the largest average dwell time increase of 3.3% – suggesting an improvement in visit quality and consumer engagement.
But while indoor malls led in terms of short-term growth, comparing current visitation to pre-COVID patterns revealed the longer-term strength of the open-air format – the only shopping center type to surpass pre-pandemic levels, with visits up 0.3% compared to H1 2019. At the same time, indoor malls' average visit duration has recovered more closely to 2019 levels – perhaps suggesting that visit quality is improving at indoor malls faster than the visit quantity.
Looking at quarterly visit data since the pandemic also highlights the visitation success of open-air shopping centers and the recent comeback of indoor malls.
Open-air shopping centers are the only type of mall where visits consistently met or exceeded pre-pandemic levels over the past two years, with Q2 '25 visits 2.7% higher than in Q2 '19. But indoor malls narrowed the gap significantly this past quarter – with Q2 '25 visits just 1.1% lower than in Q2 2019, marking their strongest performance since 2020 – suggesting that the post-pandemic indoor mall story is still being written.
While June's softness may reflect natural demand normalization after spring's tariff-driven shopping surge, the broader YoY H1 2025 trends show shopping centers generally exceeding last year's visit levels with average visit duration also on the rise. And while visit quantity and quality is generally not quite back to pre-COVID levels, the data suggests that the recovery story is very much still being written.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Summer 2025 has arrived, and airports are gearing up for travelers heading out on long-awaited vacations.
We analyzed airport traffic on a nationwide, statewide, and DMA level to assess how the sector stands ahead of one of the year's busiest travel periods.
Summers are typically busy periods for airports as people head out to visit family and friends and take advantage of summer vacations. But going into the 2025 summer travel season, airport visits (excluding traffic from international visitors) have been lagging, with year-over-year (YoY) visits down since February 2025. And while some of the dip may be attributed to a normalization of traffic following the post-COVID recovery, the softer airport visitation trends could also indicate a slower travel season ahead.
Still, diving into airport visits by state reveals pockets of growth – specifically in New England and in the Northwest. Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island led the country in terms of YoY visit growth in May 2025, with Connecticut and New Hampshire also seeing positive YoY airport visit trends. In the Northwest, May 2025 airport visits also increased YoY in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, North Dakota and Idaho.
The strong airport performance in these states indicates that certain regions – perhaps those with outdoor recreation appeal – are still seeing robust visitor activity despite the wider cool down.
Plotting May 2025 YoY airport visits by DMA on a map provides a visual representation of this trend – and highlights other pockets of airport visit growth throughout the country.
For example, while overall airport visits in Florida declined 4.3% YoY in May 2025, airport visits in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Panama City, and Ft. Myers-Naples DMAs all increased. And California, which saw an overall 3.0% dip in airport visits, also saw airport visit bumps in several DMAs, including Bakersfield, Monterey-Selinas, Fresno-Visalia DMAs.
These localized bright spots suggest that while the broader travel recovery may be plateauing, specific markets continue to show resilience and growth potential.
The overall decline in airport visits may suggest a cooling in domestic tourism ahead of summer 2025, perhaps marking the end of the broad-based travel surge of recent years. This shift away from widespread growth suggests that travelers are becoming more discerning in their travel choices, perhaps favoring destinations that offer authentic experiences, natural beauty, or seasonal advantages.
For more data-driven consumer insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Walmart, Target, and Costco are three of the most popular retailers in the country, drawing millions of shoppers through their doors each day. Each of these retail giants boasts distinct strengths and strategies that cater to their unique customer bases, allowing them to thrive in a highly competitive market.
This white paper takes a closer look at some of the factors that are helping the three chains flourish. How does Walmart’s positioning as a family-friendly retailer help it drive visits in its more competitive markets? How can Target leverage its reach to drive more loyal visits? And what does the increase in young shoppers frequenting membership warehouse clubs mean for Costco?
We dove into the location analytics to explore these questions further.
Examining monthly visitation patterns for the three retail giants shows Costco’s wholesale club model leading the way with consistent year-over-year (YoY) visit growth – ranging from 6.1% in stormy January 2024 to 13.3% in June. Family favorite Walmart followed closely behind, seeing YoY foot traffic growth during all but two months, when visits briefly trailed slightly behind 2023 levels before rebounding.
Target, meanwhile, had a slower start to the year, with visits trending below 2023 levels for most of January to April. Over this same period (the three months ending May 2024), Target reported a 3.7% decline in YoY comparable sales. But since then, things have begun to turn around for the chain, with YoY visits rising in May (2.5%), June (8.9%), and July (4.7%). This renewed visit growth into the second half of the year bodes well for the superstore – and the ongoing back-to-school season may well push visits up further as the summer winds down.
For all three chains, Q2 2024’s visit success has likely been bolstered in part by summer deals and intensifying price wars – as the retailers slash prices to woo inflation-weary consumers back to the store.
Over the past few years, consumer behaviors have been changing rapidly in response to shifting economic conditions. This next section explores some of these changes at Walmart, Target, and Costco, to better understand what may be driving these shifts.
One way that consumers have traditionally responded to inflation and other headwinds has been through the adoption of mission-driven shopping – making fewer, but longer, trips to retailers, so that every visit counts. Superstores and wholesale clubs, which offer one-stop shopping experiences, have long been prime destinations for these extended shopping trips. And even during periods when visits have lagged, these retailers have often benefited from extended dwell times – leading to bigger basket sizes.
A look at changes in average dwell times at Walmart and Target suggests that as YoY visits have picked up, dwell times have come down – perhaps reflecting a normalization of consumers’ shopping patterns. With inflation stabilizing and gas prices lower than they were in 2022 and 2023, customers may feel less pressure to consolidate shopping trips than they have in recent years.
In contrast, Costco’s comparatively long dwell times have remained stable over the past several years. The warehouse club’s bulk offerings, plentiful free samples, and inexpensive food court encourage shoppers to spend more time browsing the aisles than they would at other retailers. And even if mission-driven shopping continues to subside, Costco customers will likely keep on making extra-long shopping trips.
While inflation is cooling faster than expected, prices remain high, and new players are stepping into the retail space occupied by Walmart, Target, and Costco – especially dollar stores. Though higher-income customers increasingly rely on the three retail giants for many of their purchases, customers of more modest means are often drawn to the rock-bottom prices offered at dollar stores.
And analyzing the cross-shopping patterns of visitors to Walmart, Target, and Costco shows that growing shares of visitors to the three behemoths also visit Dollar Tree on a regular basis. In Q2 2019, the share of visitors to Walmart, Target, and Costco who frequented Dollar Tree at least three times ranged between 9.8% and 13.7%. But by Q2 2024, that share rose to 16.7%-21.6%.
Dollar Tree is leaning into this increased interest among superstore shoppers. Over the past year, Dollar Tree added some 350 Dollar Tree locations, even as it shuttered nearly 400 Family Dollar stores. And the chain recently acquired the leases of some 170 99 Cents Only Stores – offering Dollar Tree access to a customer base accustomed to buying everything from groceries to household goods. As Dollar Tree continues to grow its footprint and expand its food offerings, the chain will be better positioned than ever to provide a real challenge to Walmart, Target, and Costco.
Still, the three retail giants each have unique offerings that distinguish them from dollar stores. This next section examines what sets Walmart, Target, and Costco apart – and how they can continue to strengthen their competitive edge.
With competition on the rise, Walmart, Target, and Costco must display agility in navigating an ever-evolving market landscape. This section dives into the data for each chain’s more successful metro areas to see what factors are helping them outperform nationwide averages – and what metrics the retailers can harness to try to replicate these results nationwide.
Target recently expanded its Target Circle Rewards program, rolling out three new tiers for its 100 million members. And this focus on loyalty has proven successful for the chain. Demographic and visitation data reveal a strong correlation between the median household incomes (HHIs) of Target locations’ captured markets across CBSAs (core-based statistical areas), and their share of loyal visitors in Q2 2024: CBSAs where Target locations’ captured markets had higher median HHIs also tended to draw more repeat monthly visitors.
Target’s captured markets in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, LA CBSA, for example, featured a median HHI of $89.8K in Q2 2024 – and 48.0% of the chain’s LA visitors frequented a Target at least twice a month during the quarter. Target stores in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI CBSA, where the chain’s captured markets had a median HHI of $88.7K in Q2 2024, also had a loyalty rate of 48.0%.
Target generally attracts a more affluent audience than Walmart. And even as the superstore slashes prices to attract more price-conscious consumers, the retailer is also taking steps likely to enhance its popularity among higher-income households. In April 2024, Target debuted a paid membership tier within its loyalty program offering perks like same-day delivery for a fee. Maintaining and expanding these premium offerings will be key for Target as it seeks to attract more affluent customers and replicate its high-performing results in CBSAs nationwide.
The persistent inflation of the past few years, while challenging for some retailers, has also created new opportunities – particularly for wholesalers. Membership warehouse clubs, including Costco, are gaining popularity among younger shoppers, a cohort often looking for new ways to stretch their more limited budgets. An October 2023 survey revealed that nearly 15% of respondents aged 18 to 24 and 17% of those aged 25 to 30 shop at Costco.
A closer look at some of Costco’s best-performing CBSAs for YoY visit-per-location growth highlights the significance of these younger shoppers: In H1 2024, the company’s YoY visit-per-location growth was strongest in areas with higher-than-average shares of young urban singles.
For example, the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA CBSA experienced visit-per-location growth of 10.4% YoY in H1 2024, while the nationwide average stood at 7.9%. And the CBSA’s share of Young Urban Singles, defined by the Spatial.ai: PersonaLive dataset as “singles starting their careers in trade and service jobs,” was 12.1%, well above Costco’s nationwide average of 7.3%.
Walmart is a one-stop shop for everything from affordable groceries to clothing to home furnishings, making it especially popular among families. The retailer actively courts this segment with baby offerings designed to meet the needs of both kids and parents, virtual offerings in the metaverse, and collectible toys.
And visitation data reveals a connection between the extent of different Walmart locations’ YoY visit growth and the share of households with children in their captured markets.
In H1 2024, nationwide visits to Walmart increased by 4.1% YoY, while the share of households with children in the chain’s overall captured market hovered just under the nationwide baseline. But in some CBSAs where Walmart outpaced this nationwide growth, the retail giant also proved especially adept at attracting parental households – outpacing relevant statewide baselines.
In Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA, for example, Walmart experienced 5.0% YoY visit growth in H1 2024 – while the share of households with children in the chain’s local captured market stood 7% above the Massachusetts state average. And in Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI, where Walmart’s share of parental households outpaced the Minnesota state average by an even wider 15% margin, the retailer saw impressive 7.3% YoY visit growth. This pattern repeated itself in other metro areas, suggesting that there may be a correlation between local Walmart locations’ visit growth and their relative ability to draw households with children.
Walmart can continue solidifying its market position by leaning into its family-oriented offerings and expanding its footprint in regions with growing populations of young families.
Walmart, Target, and Costco all experienced YoY visit growth in the final months of H1 2024, with Costco leading the way. And though the three chains still face considerable challenges, each one brings unique strengths to the table. By continuously innovating and responding to changing market conditions, Walmart, Target, and Costco can not only overcome obstacles but also leverage them to reinforce their market positions and drive continued growth.
The first Lollapalooza – a four-day music festival – took place in 1991. Chicago’s Grant Park became the event’s permanent home (at least in the United States) in 2005, drawing thousands of revelers and music fans to the park each year.
This year, the festival once again demonstrated its powerful impact on the city. On August 1st, 2024, visits to Grant Park surged by 1,313.2% relative to the YTD daily average, as crowds converged on the park to see Chappell Roan’s much-anticipated performance. And during the first three days of the event, the event drew significantly more foot traffic than in 2023 – with visits up 18.9% to 35.9% compared to the first three days of last year’s festival (August 3rd to 5th, 2023).
Lollapalooza led to a dramatic spike in visits to Grant Park – and it also attracted a different type of visitor compared to the rest of the year.
Analyzing Grant Park’s captured market with Spatial.ai’s PersonaLive dataset reveals that Lollapalooza attendees are more likely to belong to the “Young Professionals” and “Ultra Wealthy Families” segment groups than the typical Grant Park visitor.
By contrast, the “Near-Urban Diverse Families” segment group, comprising middle-class diverse families living in or near cities, made up only 6.5% of visitors during the festival, compared to 12.0% during the rest of the year.
Additionally, visitors during Lollapalooza came from areas with higher HHIs than both the nationwide baseline of $76.1K and the average for park visitors throughout the year. Understanding the demographic profile of visitors to the park during Lollapalooza can help planners and city officials tailor future events to these segment groups – or look for ways to make the festival accessible to a wider range of music lovers.
Lollapalooza’s impact on Chicago extended beyond the boundaries of Grant Park, with nearby hotels seeing remarkable surges in foot traffic. The Congress Plaza Hotel on South Michigan Avenue witnessed a staggering 249.1% rise in visits during the week of July 29, 2024, compared to the YTD visit average. And Travelodge on East Harrison Street saw an impressive 181.8% increase. These spikes reflect the festival’s draw not just for locals but for out-of-town visitors who fill hotels across the city.
The North Michigan Avenue retail corridor also enjoyed a significant increase in foot traffic during the festival, with visits on Thursday, August 1st 56.0% higher than the YTD Thursday visit average. On Friday, August 2nd, visits to the corridor were 55.7% higher than the Friday visit average. These numbers highlight Lollapalooza’s role in driving economic activity across Chicago, as festival-goers venture beyond the park to explore the city’s vibrant retail and hospitality offerings.
City parks often serve as community hubs, and Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, NY, has been a major gathering point for New Yorkers. The park hosted one of New York’s most beloved summer concerts – Governors Ball – which moved from Governors Island to Flushing Meadows in 2023.
During the festival (June 9th -11th, 2024), musicians like Post Malone and The Killers drew massive crowds to the park, with visits soaring to the highest levels seen all year. On June 9th, the opening day of the festival, foot traffic in the park was up 214.8% compared to the YTD daily average, and at its height, on June 8th, the festival drew 392.7% more visits than the YTD average.
The park also hosted other big events this summer – a July 21st set by DMC helped boost visits to 185.1% above the YTD average. And the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival on August 3rd and 4th led to major visit boosts of 221.4% and 51.6%, respectively.
These events not only draw large crowds, but also highlight the park’s role as a space where cultural and civic life can find expression, flourish, and contribute to the health of local communities.
Analyzing changes in Flushing Meadows Corona Park’s trade area size offers insight into how far people are willing to travel for these events. During Governors Ball, for example, the park’s trade area ballooned to 254.5 square miles, showing the festival's wide appeal. On July 20th, by contrast, when the park hosted several local bands and DJs, the trade area was a much more modest 57.0 square miles.
Summer events drive community engagement, economic activity, and civic pride. Cities that invest in their parks and event hubs, fostering lively and inclusive spaces, can create lasting value for both residents and visitors, enriching the cultural and social life of urban areas.
For more data-driven civic stories, visit Placer.ai.
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.
