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Visitation data at manufacturing facilities can shed light on consumer demand and industrial output trends. We dove into the traffic data at a composite of manufacturing facilities across the United States to find out how the potential tariffs are impacting manufacturing output.
We recently explored how potential tariffs are shaping consumer behavior and retail visitation trends, but location analytics data also offers valuable insights into industrial manufacturing demand by analyzing employee visitation patterns at production facilities. By tracking foot traffic, analysts can assess workforce activity levels, which often correlate closely with production volumes. For instance, increased visits by employees may signal ramped-up output to meet rising demand, while declining visitation can indicate reduced shifts or slowed operations. This data-driven approach enables businesses and investors to make more informed decisions by monitoring real-time industrial activity and anticipating future demand.
Below, we present visitation data for a composite of manufacturing facilities across more than 80 companies, covering a diverse set of sectors including aerospace and defense, automakers, auto parts, building materials, containers and packaging, machinery, and specialty chemicals. Our dataset includes metrics for both employees (estimated using dwell time) and visitors, who often represent logistics partners delivering raw materials, transporting work-in-progress goods, or picking up finished products. Historically, our composites have shown a strong correlation with U.S. Census Bureau data on new orders for manufactured goods (measured in billions of dollars), with the relationship even stronger when adjusted for calendar shifts and seasonal slowdowns during the November/December holiday period.
Although the U.S. Census Bureau’s data is not yet out for March 2025, Placer’s aggregated visitation data for manufacturing facilities indicated a pull forward in demand, indicating that companies have accelerated production in anticipation of potential reciprocal tariff implementation. Facing the prospect of rising costs on imported materials and components, many manufacturers ramped up operations to build inventory and secure supply chains ahead of the policy shift. This proactive approach was especially evident in sectors heavily reliant on global sourcing, with visitation data reflecting heightened on-site activity. While this front-loaded demand may offer short-term stability, it also raises concerns about how manufacturers will manage longer-term cost pressures and supply chain challenges if tariffs are enacted.
Year-to-date manufacturing data shows increased activity at facilities in sectors likely to be affected by reciprocal tariffs – such as aerospace and defense, industrial machinery, and packaging and containers – suggesting manufacturers are accelerating production and shipping to get ahead of potential disruptions. Automobile manufacturing, in particular, warrants attention given recent tariff developments. Both Ford and General Motors ramped up production in late March 2025, evidenced by the jumps in visitation to manufacturing facilities in late March and early April. By acting now, these automakers aim to reduce near-term risks while evaluating longer-term adjustments to their sourcing and production strategies.
From a regional perspective, both Idaho and West Virginia saw some of the largest year-over-year increases in manufacturing visitation during March 2025, driven by rising demand in each state’s key industrial sectors. West Virginia experienced heightened activity in the steel sector – including at companies like Nucor – as producers accelerated output and bolstered inventory ahead of potential supply disruptions. Meanwhile, Idaho saw increased visits to basic materials and packaging/container manufacturers, with companies like CRH and Packaging Corporation of America ramping up operations in anticipation of reciprocal tariffs. Idaho also benefited from continued population growth, as noted in our 2024 Migration Trends Whitepaper. Together, these trends highlight how manufacturers in both states are proactively responding to potential pricing volatility and supply chain challenges tied to ongoing trade policy uncertainty.
As tariff-related uncertainty continues to shape business strategies, location analytics offers a powerful lens into how manufacturers are responding in real time. The surge in visitation activity across key sectors and regions in March 2025 underscores a broader trend of companies accelerating production and reinforcing supply chains ahead of potential policy shifts. From automotive to steel and packaging, manufacturers are not only pulling forward demand but also adapting operations to navigate rising input costs and global sourcing challenges. As trade dynamics evolve, continued monitoring of on-site activity through visitation data will be essential for understanding industrial demand, anticipating disruptions, and guiding more strategic decision-making across the supply chain.
When I first started Omni Talk back in 2017, I used to borrow liberally from the great Peter King and his Monday Morning Quarterback Series. In fact, one of the first articles I ever wrote – 10 Things I Think I Think I Love and Don’t Love about Walmart Right Now – was an outright homage to the man.
The double use of “I Think” is unparalleled. It is pure genius. How the man came up with it, I will never know. It is the perfect mix of WTF and stop you in your tracks syntax because this article looks like it is going to be interesting.
All of which is why I am going back to my roots and imitating “The King” once again for my new column called, All The Things I Think I Think About Retail Over The Last Quarter.
I am sure Mr. King never envisioned that his wise words about the gridiron every Monday morning would still inspire a now pushing-50 retail pundit to wax poetically about the state of retail but here I am, 8 years later, doing just that.
So away we go!
Ashley Buchanan, the former Michaels CEO, is the right man for the job at Kohl’s. Buchanan did a wonderful job instilling an omnichannel foundation at Michaels and has a background rooted in innovation and digital from previous stints at Walmart and Sam’s Club. In fact, I said on a recent podcast that Target would have been wise to look at him to succeed Brian Cornell.
But I do not envy Buchanan.
Not. One. Bit.
Turning Kohl’s around is going to be tough. Buchanan inherits 12 consecutive quarters of comparable sales declines, alongside store traffic trends that read like the opening of a John Carpenter movie.
In its most recent quarter, comparable sales at Kohl’s were a negative 6.7%, and Kohl’s also said that it expects 2025 revenue to fall in the range of 5% to 7%. Frightening indeed. Let’s just hope Buchanan doesn’t already feel like Jamie Lee Curtis trapped in a closet trying to fight her way out with coat hangers.
It is no wonder that Buchanan has already instituted page one of every new CEO’s playbook – i.e. laying off 10% of your corporate workforce – because, lord knows, he is going to need the wiggle room (and as many coat hangers as he can get his hands on).
Costco shareholders overwhelmingly (approximately 98% of them) voted down a measure in late January that urged Costco to assess the risk associated with its DEI practices. Costco’s leadership came out strongly against the measure, arguing that its “commitment to an enterprise rooted in respect and inclusion is appropriate and necessary."
Or said another way, Costco held to a position that many others, including Walmart, Target, and Tractor Supply Company, have not.
In my retail experience, the general impact of taking a strong position on something like this publicly is felt near the beginning of such an announcement and then the impact gradually settles over time.
If that were the case, Costco would have felt the impact in February, but Costco’s recently announced results indicate otherwise.
In its most recent quarter, which ended on January 31, 2025, Costco’s U.S. comparable sales increased 8.7% excluding impacts from gas deflation, while in February, its comparable sales held strong at 8.6%, also excluding any impacts from gas.
I’m no mathematician but that is hardly a dip.
Costco is still experiencing year-over-year traffic patterns, particularly into February (more on that later), of which other retailers can only dream; its U.S. membership renewal rate sits right around 93%; and its Kirkland signature brand appears to be a great hedge against inflation in that it, according to Costco CFO Gary Millerchip, “continues to grow at a faster pace than our business as a whole.”
The Costco executive team also did not mention word one of any DEI impact on its financial results within its last earnings call, something of which Costco no doubt would be conscious of given the current legal and political climate.
No, for all intents and purposes, at least initially, Costco appears to be holding strong to its principles and doing just fine.
Under CEO Jack Sinclair, Sprouts has done a masterful job rightsizing its store prototype, bringing differentiation back to its assortment, and playing on the post-pandemic trend of consumers having a willingness to make that extra trip, as long as it is convenient for them (see below).
Sprouts also has a load of dry powder in its keg. For example, Sprouts still does not have a loyalty program (something it plans to launch in Q3 of this year) and only operates in 24 states.
Or, put mildly, that right sized prototype that has been doing so well? The one driving an 11.5% comp in Sprouts’ most recent quarter?
It still has a lot more room to grow.
Macy’s new CEO Tony Spring loves to talk about the results Macy’s is seeing out of its “First 50” locations, i.e. the 50 locations Macy’s has designated to trial new innovations to improve its overall business. Examples of these innovations include things like: enhanced staffing in certain areas of the stores, modernized visual presentations, enhanced merchandising, or aka all the garden variety things anyone who has been around retail longer than three minutes would expect to see within a test of this kind.
In January, Macy’s reported that its First 50 stores delivered a +1.9% sales comp in Q3 2024, outpacing other Macy's stores by 4.1%, and that it planned to expand its First 50 initiative to another 75 stores over the course of 2025.
All sounds great, right?
Not to me it doesn’t.
First off, in its most recent quarter (Q4 2024), the spread between the First 50 stores and the rest of the Macy’s chain appears to have slipped. Executives reported a 1.2% comp in the First 50 stores against a 0.9% comp decline in its Macy’s nameplate stores. In isolation, this performance might look good on paper, but looking at it against the trend line, one could argue that the First 50 stores performed relatively worse in Q4 than the rest of the chain. The chain’s performance picked up, while the First 50’s fell off.
Second, and perhaps more importantly, I have been around retail long enough to know that one should take the results of tests like these with a fine grain of salt. Many factors can impact the performance of 50 stores, particularly when a new CEO has just taken the helm. The least of which is that everyone in the entire Macy’s organization knows the importance of these stores and, therefore, is likely extra committed to making sure they succeed. As the focus wears off, tests like these usually revert back to the mean.
And, the mean, which looks somewhere in the range of just shy of a -0.9% (at best) to a -6.0% comp (at worst) across the last two quarters, won’t keep the Macy’s Day parade balloons afloat come Thanksgiving time.
Fortunately, Bloomingdale’s is not Macy’s and vice versa. I say that because Bloomingdale’s, unlike Macy’s, could be onto something with its small format strategy.
According to Macy’s website, Bloomingdale’s has 33 full-sized U.S. store locations compared to Macy’s 479.
That is quite the delta.
So much so, that one has to wonder if, similar to Sprouts above, small format Bloomie’s stores throughout the country (of which there are three currently in the U.S.) could become a significant growth vehicle for Bloomingdale’s.
I am on record as saying that when there are already 479 larger-sized Macy’s stores, the last thing anyone needs is a smaller Macy’s. That same logic, however, cannot be applied to Bloomingdale’s because only 33 Bloomingdale’s stores actually exist. The majority of the country has no idea what a Bloomingdale’s experience is like, let alone how to compare shopping at a bigger one versus a smaller one. Consumers generally prefer shopping at a store with a greater selection unless, of course, their next best option is no selection at all.
The data from the three smaller format Bloomie’s stores appears to prove this logic out (see below):
Year-over-year visit growth to Boomie’s stores across six of the last nine quarters has outpaced the general department store industry by a wide margin.
Granted, it is still only three stores, but the logic of the strategy is sound, provided Macy’s can operate these smaller Bloomie’s stores profitably (which is still a big unknown – and an issue that also plays into the Macy’s First 50 stores outlined above).
Target, my alma mater, so to speak, has been stuck in neutral since even before the pandemic began.
I don’t know when or why it happened but, at some point, Target became myopic in its strategy, failing to look beyond its vaunted “owned brands” for growth. While others, like Walmart, were evolving with the times, Target stood flat footed and failed to adapt its Expect More, Pay Less brand promise to the needs of its 21st century, digital-first consumer.
Make no mistake: Target’s former beachheads are now all under siege.
Its higher income demographic shoppers are moving to Walmart because of Walmart’s much stronger competitive positioning of Walmart+; fast fashion players like Shein and Temu are stealing share in apparel; the club channel is more formidable than ever; and Wayfair (more on that in a minute) is now the go-to online source for home furnishings. Taken together, it all means less trips into a Target store over the long-term.
A lot less trips.
But that is just the digital impact. Merchandising execution and in-stocks continue to plague the retailer as well, with many people both in and outside of the organization asking if it isn’t time for Target to return to office, similar to Walmart, Amazon and many others before them.
Something is causing the temperature of Target’s porridge to feel just not quite right (see traffic patterns below). Could it be that the goldilocks shine of CEO Brian Cornell’s strategy to wait by the wayside as other retailers started going out of business is starting to wear off?
Cornell, himself, in Target’s most recent earnings call, lauded the $30 billion of additional revenue Target has gained since 2019, but how much of that was pure inflation and inertia given the bankruptcies of Toys R Us, Bed Bath & Beyond, Party City, and many, many more?
A new alarming feature is what appears to be a precipitous decline in February, corroborated by what Target CFO Brian Lee called “soft” topline performance for the month in the aforementioned earnings call.
Target did not mention its recent DEI rollback as a possible rationale for its slow February, citing instead things like “extreme cold” and “flood and fires,” but the prospect of a 40-day boycott in response to the rollback sure as heck won’t make things any easier.
Target has its work cut out for it, to say the least. Its new $15 billion growth plan is potentially a step in the right direction. However, I worry that, when one looks under the covers of that plan, all he or she will find is the same owned brand gobbledygook that Target has espoused ever since Cornell took over.
And that owned brand well, in relation to the competitive issues outlined above, is done and dried up.
Wayfair announced in January 2025 that it was planning to exit Germany. According to Retail Dive, Wayfair said that it “plans to reinvest cost savings from backing out of Germany into expanding its physical retail footprint.”
After many (what some might call, or at least I would) failed attempts at smaller physical store concepts, Wayfair opened a 150,000 square foot mega store just outside of Chicago. From the looks of the data below, this larger store concept, one of which I have also been a big fan of for sometime now, appears to be showing encouraging signs.
Moreover, the home furnishings industry also appears to be on a bit of a rebound. Traffic to home furnishings players appears to be picking up (see below) and Home Depot just posted its first positive comp quarter after eight consecutive quarterly declines.
Wayfair’s CEO Niraj Shah is as shrewd as they come, and he may just be betting on stores right as a big tailwind is ready to hit his back.
Is it a coincidence then that Wayfair just announced the launch of its second large format store in Atlanta?
I think I think not.
New CEO Brian Niccol took the helm in September of last year and wasted no time in establishing his priorities. Put simply, Niccol wanted to reignite the “third place” atmosphere of Starbucks and ensure that all in-store customers get served their orders in under four minutes or less.
Early results look promising.
While Starbucks’ same-store sales did decline by 4% during the last quarter, this figure still beat Wall Street estimates, which, according to CNBC, had predicted a 5.5% drop.
Traffic data also supports Niccol’s moves (see below).
Lord knows, it’s early here, too, and the February traffic decline is definitely something to watch. But, given that Niccol has only been in his role since September, these results at least have the aroma of an early turnaround.
Unless of course, you are a regular Frappaccino drinker – because then you are probably pissed.
For the past six years, Sam’s Club has sat atop my list as the most innovative retailer in America not named Amazon. It is an award well-deserved for a number of reasons.
First, Sam’s Club has been on a winning streak. In its most recent quarter, Sam’s Club delivered a 6.8% sales comp, excluding fuel.
Second, Sam’s Club has seen explosive growth in digital both online and in-store. E-commerce sales were up over 24% in the last quarter, and the use of its scan and go shopping app hit an all-time high during the same period. This last statistic might not sound like much, but the Sam’s Club executives I have interviewed on multiple occasions have all told me that 1 in 3 shoppers regularly use their scan and go app.
1 in 3!
I am going to go out on a limb here but my guess is that Costco’s mobile app usage is nowhere near that high, particularly in-store.
Third, Sam’s Club is also winning with young people. Sam's Club has reported record highs in membership numbers and renewal rates, with particularly strong growth among Gen Z (63% over two years) and millennials (14% over two years).
The combination of a digital-first shopping experience and a growing percentage of younger people shopping in its stores means that Sam’s Club is positioned to create the most one-to-one personalized shopping experience out there.
Retail media anyone?
I say that in jest but the profit-enhancing effects of retail media are real (see Walmart), and Sam’s Club has created a visual menu board to serve up advertisements to one-third of its shoppers right as they are standing at the shelf. Can Costco or anyone else for that matter do that?
Not nearly to the same degree.
Concluding Thoughts
There you have it. All the things I think I think about retail over the last quarter, and in no particular order of importance.
So, I ask you in closing – what do you think of what I think?
McDonald's and Chipotle, two of the most significant players in the quick-service and fast-casual dining sectors, are maintaining a promising trajectory despite the current economic uncertainty. With the first quarter of 2025 concluded, we examined their recent visit patterns and explored some of the strategies these two dining giants are employing to drive visits.
Although the visit gap to McDonald’s widened slightly – from -1.7% year-over-year (YoY) in Q4 2024 to -2.6% in Q1 2025 – traffic to the chain still remains close to last year's levels, suggesting that its value proposition continues to resonate strongly with its customer base even during times of economic uncertainty.
Meanwhile, Chipotle continues to see YoY visit growth, with YoY foot traffic to the chain rising by 4.5% in Q1 2025.
Some of the company’s strength may be attributed to its strategic fleet expansions, particularly in smaller markets. Moving forward, Chipotle has set its sights on opening roughly 350 new locations throughout 2025, with a focus on drive-through – another major growth driver for the chain.
A Minecraft Movie debuted on April 3rd, 2025, and McDonald’s, perhaps recalling the success of its Adult Happy Meal promotion, participated in the movie rollout by offering a Minecraft Movie special. The meal, which includes Minecraft-themed collectibles, is available for a limited time, creating a sense of urgency for diners – something that McDonald’s has used in the past to great success.
The impact of the special was already evident in the first week following the release. Visits to McDonald’s on Tuesday, April 1st – when the special launched – were 12.2% higher than the year-to-date (YTD) average Tuesday visit count for 2025. And the launch provides a continued boost to the chain, with visits on the following two Tuesdays elevated by 9.5% and 7.4%, respectively, relative to the YTD Tuesday visit average.
Chipotle, too, has leveraged limited-time offers and specials to great success, with chicken-focused promotions like 2024’s Chicken al Pastor and, more recently, the introduction of a Honey Chicken special driving visits to the chain.
Visits to Chipotle jumped by 6.3% above the YTD weekly visit average during the week of March 10th, 2025, when the special launched, and remained elevated through the rest of the month. While visit numbers had been trending slightly upward towards the end of February, the launch of the Honey Chicken special seems to have driven a sustained visit surge. Burrito Day provided another visit boost to the chain, with Thursday visits on April 3rd – the day of the launch – elevated by 13.0% relative to the YTD Thursday visit average.
McDonald’s and Chipotle are maintaining their position in a challenging market, driving visits through carefully considered expansion, specials, and promotions.
Will these visits continue to hold pace as Q2 gets underway?
Visit Placer.ai for the latest data-driven dining insights.
Los Angeles is famous for its film and music industry, but the city also boasts several world-class museums that educate and entertain local visitors and tourists alike. We dove into the data for several of LA’s top museums in order to examine the visitation patterns and demographics of museum goers in the City of Angels.
Analyzing monthly visits to the top LA museums over the past 12 months reveals that although most receive a visit boost in the spring and summer, each institution has a unique seasonal visit pattern.
The California Science Center and La Brea Tar Pits and Museum received the largest July visit surges, likely due to heavy traffic from young families on vacation. Meanwhile, The Petersen Automotive Museum received the largest December visit spike, perhaps due to a boost from private holiday events. And The Museum of Contemporary Art appears to have maintained a steady flow of visitors – experiencing a relatively muted summer uptick, but relatively robust visits in the fall.
Diving further into the data reveals that LA museums are particularly popular with hyper-local visitors and with out-of-towners: Every museum analyzed received large shares of visitors from less than 30 and/or from more than 250 miles away, with fewer visitors coming from 30-250 miles.
The California Science Center received the greatest share of visitors residing less than 30 miles (60.7%) from the museum, perhaps due to its popularity with educational groups and its location in bustling Exposition Park.
Griffith Observatory, with views of the Hollywood sign and Los Angeles's urban landscape, was highly popular with out-of-town visitors – 48.7% of guests resided at least 250 miles away. And as a unique active fossil excavation site, La Brea Tar Pits and Museum was also favored by out-of-town visitors (42.9% of guests came from 250+ miles away).
The relatively high shares of out-of-town visitors at most LA museums analyzed highlights the role that tourists play in supporting LA’s cultural institutions. And diving into the median HHI in the museums’ captured market reveals that these out-of-towners may represent a particularly desirable audience.
In general, the museums analyzed tend to attract a relatively wealthy audience. In 2024, the median household income (HHI) in all the analyzed museums’ captured market trade areas was higher than the median HHI nationwide ($79.6K/year) – perhaps due to California’s relatively high median HHI of $99.3K/year. Most museums also drove traffic from regions with a higher median HHI than the state benchmark – likely due to the relative affluence of the Los Angeles area. The Getty and The Museum of Contemporary Art’s captured trade areas had the highest median HHIs, at $107.2K/year and $103.7K/year, respectively.
But when analyzing only out-of-town visitors (who traveled 250 miles or more), the median HHIs of the captured trade areas increased – indicating that out-of-town museum guests were more affluent than local ones. This suggests that tickets to special exhibitions could be set at higher price points during peak seasons when more out-of-town guests are anticipated.
Though there are similarities between the behavior and demographics of visitors to LA’s museums, they each experience somewhat distinct seasonal visit patterns and attract diverse audiences. With the busiest museum season ramping up, cultural institutions stand to gain from understanding the changing characteristics of their guests.
For more insights, visit Placer.ai.
Marketers, retailers, and category managers spend a lot of time trying to analyze the retail preferences of Gen Z shoppers. Meanwhile, Gen X and Baby Boomers are seldom considered, even though almost 40% of American adults are aged 55 or older. We analyzed the latest data to better understand these frequently overlooked consumer segments.
Although the overwhelming majority of older Americans spend several hours a day online and over half of American seniors own a smartphone, the data indicates many consumers aged 55+ are still more comfortable shopping in-store.
Comparing the age distribution among adult visitors to Walmart’s website with the age distribution in Walmart’s offline trade area shows that older consumers (aged 55+) are overrepresented in the retailer’s offline trade area relative to its online visitor base.
Offline shopping offers a range of benefits, from personalized service to the ability to physically examine products and the convenience of walking out with the purchased items. Retailers looking to increase their penetration with older audience segments might consider investing in brick-and-mortar stores that give older consumers the shopping experience that best fits their needs.
For retailers looking to reach Gen X and Baby Boomers, merely building brick-and-mortar channels may not be enough – brands should also ensure that the in-store experience is optimized for older audiences. And the first step may be ensuring that staffing and opening hours are adapted to the shopping habits of older Americans.
Analyzing the hourly visit distribution at L.L. Bean and Ocean State Job Lot – two chains particularly popular with a variety of older audiences – suggests that Gen X and Baby Boomer shoppers may prefer visiting stores earlier in the day: Visits between the hours of 9 AM and 2 PM accounted for a much larger share of visits to both chains when compared to visitation behavior for the wider category. So retailers seeking to attract Gen X and Baby Boomers may consider earlier opening hours and robust staffing during the late morning and early afternoon.
At the same time, while many older consumers do exhibit some commonalities – such as a preference for offline shopping or for earlier-in-the-day store visits – it is important to remember that older shoppers are not a monolith. Like other age-based market segments, the label of “older consumer” lumps together a variety of customer types from various socioeconomic backgrounds representing a wide array of values and interests. Retailers looking to cater to this demographic should also consider the particular characteristics of their target audience beyond the general attributes common to many older consumers.
The chart below shows the share of various “Boomer” segments (from the Spatial.ai: PersonaLive dataset) in the trade areas of seven apparel retailers popular with older consumers. All these segments – Sunset Boomers, Suburban Boomers, and Budget Boomers – consist of consumers aged 65-74, but their living arrangements and household income levels vary. And as the chart shows, each Boomer segment exhibits unique brand affinities.
Sunset Boomers – the most affluent segment – were significantly overrepresented in the captured markets Talbots, Anthropologie, Vineyard Vines, and Chico’s. Suburban Boomers – middle-class older consumers – were also slightly overrepresented in Talbots, Vineyard Vines, and Chico’s captured market, but were underrepresented for Anthropologie and significantly overrepresented at Boscov’s. And Budget Boomers – older consumers with household incomes of $35K to $50K – were overrepresented in Bealls and Cato’s captured market even though these retailers did not seem particularly popular with the other two Boomer segments.
To effectively target older consumers, retailers should assess how their products and services align with the unique tastes and spending abilities of each Boomer and Gen X sub-segment.
Older consumers make up a significant share of U.S. shoppers, even though this demographic is not always top of mind for marketers and retailers. By embracing the continued importance of physical stores and adapting to the specific shopping behaviors of Baby Boomers and Gen X consumers, retailers can cultivate stronger engagement with these segments. Ultimately, though, success with this audience will hinge on recognizing the heterogeneity of older shoppers and tailoring strategies accordingly.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
After leap year comparison induced year-over-year (YoY) declines in February 2025, foot traffic to the Placer 100 Index for Retail & Dining stabilized in March 2025 to just -0.3% below 2024 levels – an impressive performance considering the severe weather that impacted large parts of the country.
State-level analysis of March 2025 visits to the Placer 100 Index reveals that massive storms indeed contributed significantly to regional foot traffic declines. States that bore the brunt of inclement weather in March 2025 – particularly in the Southeastern and Central United States – appeared to experience the steepest YoY visit gaps.
Despite the extreme climate conditions, some chains managed to plow ahead, enjoying visit growth in March 2025. Once again, Chili’s Grill & Bar held on to the top spot in the Placer 100 Index for YoY visits (22.6%) and visits per location (23.4%) growth, likely due to continued success in the areas of value and virality. Meanwhile, three fitness chains made the top 10 in YoY visits – Crunch Fitness (22.5%), LA Fitness (10.0%), and Planet Fitness (9.7%), at least in part due to continuing expansions of their respective footprints.
Expansion is perhaps only one driving factor behind the success of Crunch Fitness, Planet Fitness, and LA Fitness in March 2025. The beginning of the year is generally busy for fitness chains as many consumers adopt new years’ resolutions to get in shape, even if many abandon their pursuit down the line. But the data suggests that Crunch Fitness, Planet Fitness, and LA Fitness experienced visit growth in March in part due to a sustained increase in visitor frequency.
All three chains saw an increase in the share of visitors visiting 8 or more times in March 2025 compared to 2024, indicating that the chains are driving more traffic from fitness-invested visitors. And these fitness buffs, who attend the gym quite often, are perhaps less likely to give up on their fitness goals during the year, which bodes well for the fitness chains’ chances to sustain members and elevated traffic in the months ahead.
The Placer 100 Index for March 2025 demonstrates the effect of harsh winter conditions on retail and dining visits. Still, the strong performance of several chains highlights the consumer trends and brand strategies that can drive growth.
For more insights anchored in location analytics, visit Placer.ai/anchor.
Return-to-office (RTO) trends have been closely watched over the past few years, with relevant stakeholders trying to puzzle out the impact remote and hybrid work have had on business operations and worker performance. And while visits to office buildings, overall, remain below pre-pandemic levels, office recovery varies from city to city – reflecting the complex and nuanced nature of regional economic trends, workforce preferences, and industry-specific needs.
This white paper harnesses location analytics to explore office recovery in the country’s second-largest economy – Los Angeles. The first part of the report is based on an analysis of foot traffic data from Placer.ai’s Los Angeles Office Index – an index comprising 100 office buildings in LA (including several in the greater metro area). The second part of the report broadens the lens to analyze visits by local employees to points of interest (POIs) corresponding to four major LA-area office districts: Century City, Downtown LA, Santa Monica, and Culver City. The white paper examines the impact that return-to-work mandates have had on visits to office buildings, discovers which demographic groups are driving the RTO, and explores the connection between commute time and return-to-office rates.
The return to office in Los Angeles has consistently lagged behind other major cities, underperforming nationwide recovery levels since the pandemic ground in-office work to a virtual halt. Still, the city’s office buildings are seeing a steady increase in visits, with foot traffic tending to spike at the beginning of each year. This indicates that even though office visits in LA are still below national averages, they are on a steady growth trajectory – a promising sign for stakeholders in the city.
A closer examination of Los Angeles office buildings also shows that despite the overall lag, some top-performing buildings in the LA metro area are defying the odds. Visits to the 20 local office buildings with the narrowest Q2 2024 post-COVID visit gaps were down just 8.7% in June 2024 compared to January 2019 – significantly outperforming the nationwide average.
So while overall office recovery in the city is still behind nationwide trends, these top-performing buildings indicate an optimistic outlook for the city’s office spaces.
Diving into the demographics of visitors to LA’s top-performing office buildings reveals an important insight: these buildings are attracting younger workers. This cohort has shown a stronger preference for in-person work compared to their older colleagues.
Analyzing the buildings’ captured markets with psychographics from AGS: Panorama reveals that these buildings are attracting visitors from areas with larger shares of "Emerging Leaders" and "Young Coastal Technocrats" than the broader metro area.
"Emerging Leaders'' – upper-middle-class professionals in early stages of their careers – make up 20.3% of households in the trade areas feeding visits to these top-performing buildings, compared to 14.9% in the broader LA CBSA. Similarly, "Young Coastal Technocrats," young and highly educated professionals in tech and professional services, account for 14.7% of households driving visits to the top-performing buildings, compared to only 12.1% in the broader area.
The trend suggests that companies in these high-performing office buildings employ many early-career professionals eager to accelerate their careers and work in-person with colleagues and mentors. This is a positive sign for the future of the office market in the LA metro area, indicating that it is attractive to key demographic groups that are likely to drive future growth and innovation.
Over the past few years, the debate regarding return-to-office mandates has been a heated one. Will employees follow return-to-office requirements? Can companies enforce the return to office after offering remote and hybrid work options? Recent location analytics data suggests that, at least in the Los Angeles metro area, some return-to-office mandates have been effective.
Three major tech companies – Activision Blizzard, TikTok, and SNAP Inc. – recently made their return-to-office policies stricter. Activision mandated a full return to the office in January 2024. TikTok has also intensified its return-to-office policy while seeking to expand its office presence in the greater Los Angeles area. And SNAP Inc. required employees to return to the office earlier this year as a condition of continued employment.
Visitation patterns at each of these companies' respective headquarters suggest that their policies have directly impacted visit frequency. Since the beginning of the year, the share of repeat office visits (defined as two or more visits per week) has increased for all three locations. Activision saw its share of repeat office visits grow from 52.1% in H1 2023 to 61.4% in the same period of 2024. TikTok’s repeat visits grew from 49.5% to 61.0%, and SNAP’s repeat visits increased from 36.6% to 42.8%.
These numbers highlight how return-to-office policies can lead to noticeable changes in office visit patterns and offer a blueprint to other businesses looking to foster a stronger in-office workforce.
Los Angeles is the second-largest metro area in the country, with several distinct business districts across its sprawling landscape. And a closer look at four major office hubs in the greater LA area – Century City, Downtown LA, Santa Monica, and Culver City – highlights how the office recovery can vary, not just by city or demographic, but on a neighborhood level.
Weekday visits by local employees to all four analyzed business districts have rebounded significantly since 2020 – though each area has followed its own particular trajectory.
Culver City, home to major businesses including Sony Pictures and Disney Digital Network, saw the least pronounced drop in employee visits during the early days of the pandemic. And in Q2 2024, weekday visits by local workers were down just 18.4% compared to Q1 2019.
Century City, on the other hand, saw the most marked drop in local employee foot traffic as the pandemic set in. But the district’s recovery trajectory has also been the most dramatic – with a Q2 2024 visit gap of just 28.5%, smaller than Downtown LA’s 29.7% visit gap. Perhaps capitalizing on this momentum, Century City is expanding its business district with the addition of a major new office building, set to be completed in 2026 and serve as the headquarters for Creative Artists Agency. Santa Monica, for its part, finished off Q2 2024 with a 23.3% visit gap.
Century City stands out within the Los Angeles metropolitan area for its dramatic decline and subsequent resurgence in local employee foot traffic. And looking at another metric of office recovery – employee commute distance – further underscores the district’s remarkable comeback.
The share of employees commuting to Century City from three to seven miles away has nearly returned to pre-COVID levels – suggesting a normalization of commuting patterns by local workers living in the area. In H1 2019, 33.5% of workers in Century City commuted between 3 and 7 miles to work; in 2022, that number had dropped to 29.8%. But by 2024, the share of visitors making that commute had grown to 32.5% – much closer to pre-COVID numbers.
Similarly, the region’s trade area size, which had contracted significantly in the wake of the pandemic, bounced back significantly in 2024. This serves as another indication of Century City’s rebound, cementing Century City’s status as a key business hub within the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
Five years after the upheaval caused by the pandemic, office spaces are still changing. Although the Los Angeles area has taken longer to recover than other major cities, analyzing local visitation data shows significant potential for the city’s business areas. With young employees leading the return-to-office charge, the city is poised to keep driving its strong economy and adjust to an evolving office environment.
Retail media networks (RMNs) have cemented their roles as the future – and present – of advertising. These networks enable advertisers to promote products and services through a retailer’s online properties and physical stores, when consumers are close to the point-of-purchase and primed to buy.
Today, we take a closer look at two newcomers to the retail media space: Costco Wholesale and Wawa. Both chains have an online presence – but both also excel at in-store experiences, offering unique opportunities for consumer engagement and exposure to new products.
This white paper dives into the data to explore some of the key advantages Costco and Wawa bring to the retail media table – and examine how the retailers’ physical reach can best be leveraged to help advertising partners find new audiences.
Wawa and Costco, the latest additions to the growing number of companies with retail media networks, exhibit significant advertising potential. Both brands boast a wide reach and diverse customer base, and both have access to troves of customer data through membership and loyalty programs.
Foot traffic data confirms the robust offline positioning of the two retailers. In Q1 2024, year-over-year (YoY) visits to Costco and Wawa increased 9.5% and 7.5% respectively – showing that their in-store engagement is on a growth trajectory.
And since consumers tend to spend a lot more time in-store than they do on retailers’ websites, Costco’s and Wawa’s strong brick-and-mortar growth positions them especially well to help advertisers reach new customers. In Q1 2024, the average visits to Costco’s and Wawa’s physical stores lasted 37.4 and 11.4 minutes respectively – compared to just 6.7 and 4.6 minutes for the chains’ websites. These longer in-store dwell times can be harnessed to maximize ad exposure and offer partners more extended opportunities for meaningful interactions with customers. Partners can also analyze the behavior and preferences of the two chains’ growing visitor bases to craft targeted online campaigns.
Costco’s retail media network will tap into the on- and offline shopping habits of its staggering 74.5 million members to inform targeted advertising by partners. And the retailer’s tremendous reach offers a significant opportunity to engage customers in-store.
But while Costco is dominant in some areas of the country, other markets are led by competitors like Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club. And advertisers looking to choose between competing RMNs or hone in on the areas where Costco is strongest can analyze Costco's performance and visit share – on a local or national level – to determine where to focus their efforts.
An analysis of the share of visits to wholesalers across the country reveals that Costco is the dominant wholesale membership club in much of the Western United States. But Costco also captures the largest share of wholesale club visits in many other major population centers, including important markets like New York, Chicago, Phoenix, and San Antonio. Costco’s widespread brick-and-mortar dominance offers prospective advertising partners a significant opportunity to connect with regional audiences in a wide array of key markets.
Another one of Costco’s key advantages as a retail media provider lies in its highly loyal and engaged audience. In May 2024, a whopping 41.4% of Costco’s visitors frequented the club at least twice during the month – compared to 36.6% for Sam’s Club and 36.0% for BJ’s Wholesale.
Moreover, Costco led in average visit duration compared to its competitors. In May 2024, customers spent an average of 37.1 minutes at Costco – surpassing even the impressive dwell times at Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club.
YoY visits per location to Costco, too, were the highest of the analyzed wholesalers, all three of which saw YoY increases. These metrics further establish the wholesaler’s position as an effective retail media provider.
Even when foot traffic doesn't show a brand’s clear regional dominance, location analytics can reveal other metrics that signal its unique potential. Take the Richmond-Petersburg, VA, designated market area (DMA), for example. In May 2024, BJ’s Wholesale Club led the DMA with 41.2% of wholesale club visits, while Costco was a close second with 37.3% of visits.
But despite BJ’s lead in visit share, Costco's Richmond audience was more affluent. Costco's visitors came from trade areas with a median household income (HHI) of $93.2K/year, compared to $73.1K/year for Sam’s Club and $89.5K/year for BJ’s. Additionally, Costco drew a higher share of weekday visits than its counterparts.
Analyzing shopper habits and preferences across chains on a local level can provide crucial context for strategists working on media campaigns. Advertisers can partner with the brands most likely to attract consumers interested in their offerings, and identify where – and when – to focus their advertising efforts.
Convenience stores, or c-stores, are emerging as destinations in and of themselves – and their rising popularity among a wider-than-ever swath of consumers opens up significant opportunities in the retail advertising space.
Wawa is a relative newcomer to the world of retail media, after other c-stores like 7-Eleven and Casey’s launched their networks in 2022 and 2023. But despite coming a bit late to the party, the potential for Wawa’s Goose Media Network is significant – thanks to a cadre of highly loyal visitors who enjoy the physical shopping experience the c-store chain offers.
In May 2024, Wawa’s share of loyal visitors (defined as those who visited the chain at least twice in a month) was 60.1%. In contrast, other leading c-store chains operating in Wawa’s market area – QuickTrip and 7-Eleven, for example – saw loyalty rates of 56.0% and 47.9%, respectively, for the same period.
Additionally, Wawa visitors browsed the aisles longer than those at other convenience retailers. In May 2024, 39.9% of Wawa visitors stayed in-store for 10 minutes or longer, compared to 29.6% at QuickTrip and 25.7% at 7-Eleven.
Wawa's loyal customer base and longer visit durations make it a strong contender in the retail media space. By harnessing this high level of customer engagement, Wawa can draw in advertisers and develop targeted marketing strategies that resonate with its dedicated shoppers.
Wawa has been on an expansion roll over the past few years, with plans to open at least 280 stores over the next decade in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. The chain has also been steadily increasing its footprint in Florida – between January 2019 and April 2024, Wawa grew from 167 Sunshine State locations to 280, with more to come.
And analyzing changes in Wawa’s visit share in one of Florida’s biggest markets – the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale DMA – shows how successful the chain’s local expansion has been. Between January 2019 and April 2024, Wawa more than doubled its category-wide visit share in the Miami area (i.e. the portion of total c-store visits in the DMA going to Wawa) – from 19.0% to nearly 40.0%.
A look at changes in Wawa’s Miami-Ft. Lauderdale trade area shows that the chain’s growing visit share has been driven by an expanding market and an increasingly diverse audience.
In April 2019, there were some 55 zip code tabulation areas (ZCTAs) in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale DMA from which Wawa drew at least 3,000 visits per month. By April 2021, this figure grew to 96 – and by April 2024, it reached 129.
Over the same period, the share of “Family Union” households in Wawa’s local captured market – defined by the Experian: Mosaic dataset as families comprised of middle-income, blue collar workers – nearly doubled, growing from 7.4% in April 2019 to 14.4% in April 2024.
Retail media networks that make it easier to introduce shoppers to products and brands that are closely aligned with their preferences and habits offer a win-win-win for retailers, advertisers, and consumers alike. And Costco and Wawa are extremely well-positioned to make the most of this opportunity.
Everybody loves coffee. And with some 75% of American adults indulging in a cup of joe at least once a week, it’s no wonder the industry is constantly on an upswing.
In early 2024, year-over-year (YoY) visits to coffee chains increased nationwide – with every state in the continental U.S. experiencing year-over-year (YoY) coffee visit growth.
The most substantial foot traffic boosts were seen in smaller markets like Oklahoma (19.4%), Wyoming (19.3%), and Arkansas (16.9%), where expansions may have a more substantial impact on statewide industry growth. But the nation’s largest coffee markets, including Texas (10.9%), California (4.2%), Florida (4.2%), and New York (3.5%), also experienced significant YoY upticks.
The nation’s coffee visit growth is being fueled, in large part, by chain expansions: Major coffee players are leaning into growing demand by steadily increasing their footprints. And a look at per-location foot traffic trends shows that by and large, they are doing so without significantly diluting visitation to existing stores.
On an industry-wide level, visits to coffee chains increased 5.1% YoY during the first five months of 2024. And over the same period, the average number of visits to each individual coffee location declined just slightly by 0.6% – meaning that individual stores drew just about the same amount of foot traffic as they did in 2023.
Drilling down into chain-level data shows some variation between brands. Dutch Bros., BIGGBY COFFEE and Dunkin’ all saw significant chain-wide visit boosts, accompanied by minor increases in their average number of visits per location.
Starbucks, for its part, which reported a YoY decline in U.S. sales for Q2 2024, maintained a small lag in visits per location. But given the coffee leader’s massive footprint – some 16,600 stores nationwide – its ability to expand while avoiding more significant dilution of individual store performance shows that Starbucks’ growth is meeting robust demand.
What is driving the coffee industry’s remarkable category-wide growth? And who are the customers behind it? This white paper dives into the data to explore key factors driving foot traffic to leading coffee chains in early 2024. The report explores the demographic and psychographic characteristics of visitors to major players in the coffee space and examines strategies brands can use to make the most of the opportunity presented by a thriving industry.
One factor shaping the surge in coffee visit growth is the slow-but-sure return-to-office (RTO). Hybrid work may be the post-COVID new normal – but RTO mandates and WFH fatigue have led to steady increases in office foot traffic over the past year. And in some major hubs – including New York and Miami – office visits are back to more than 80.0% of what they were pre-pandemic.
A look at shifting Starbucks visitation patterns shows that customer journeys and behavior increasingly reflect those of office-goers. In April and May 2022, for example, 18.6% of Starbucks visitors proceeded to their workplace immediately following their coffee stop – but by 2024, this share shot up to 21.0%.
Over the same period, the percentage of early morning (7:00 to 10:00 AM) Starbucks visits lasting less than 10 minutes also increased significantly – from 64.3% in 2022 to 68.7% in 2024. More customers are picking up their coffee on the go – many of them on the way to work – rather than settling down to enjoy it on-site.
Dunkin’ is another chain that is benefiting from consumers on the go. Examining the coffee giant’s performance across major regional markets – those where the chain maintains a significant presence – reveals a strong correlation between the share of Dunkin’ visits in each state lasting less than five minutes and the chain’s local YoY trajectory.
In Wisconsin, for example, 50.9% of visits to Dunkin’ between January and May 2024 lasted less than five minutes. And Wisconsin also saw the most impressive YoY visit growth (5.9%). Illinois, Ohio, Maine, and Connecticut followed similar patterns, with high shares of very short visits and strong YoY showings.
On the other end of the spectrum lay Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida, where very short visits accounted for a low share of the chain’s statewide total – under 40.% – and where visits declined YoY.
Dunkin’s success with very short visits may be driven in part by its popular app, which makes it easy for harried customers to place their order online and save time in-store. And this is good news indeed for the coffee leader – since customers using the app also tend to generate bigger tickets.
Dutch Bros.’ meteoric rise has been fueled, in part, by its appeal to younger audiences. Recently ranked as Gen Z’s favorite quick-service restaurant, the rapidly-expanding coffee chain sets itself apart with a strong brand identity built on cultivating a positive, friendly customer experience.
And Dutch Bros.’ people-centered approach is resonating especially well with singles – including young adults living alone – who may particularly appreciate the chain’s community atmosphere.
Analyzing the relative performance of Dutch Bros.’ locations across metro areas – focusing on regions where the chain has a strong local presence – shows that it performs best in areas with plenty of singles. Indeed, the share of one-person households in Dutch Bros.’ local captured markets is very strongly correlated with the coffee brand’s CBSA-level YoY per-location visit performance. Areas with higher concentrations of one-person households saw significantly more YoY visit growth in the first part of 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).
The share of one-person households in Dutch Bros.’ Tucson, AZ captured market, for example, stands at 33.4% – well above the nationwide baseline of 27.5%. And between January and May 2024, Tucson-area Dutch Bros. saw a 6.0% increase in the average number of visits per location. Tulsa, OK, Medford, OR, and Oklahoma City, OK – which also feature high shares of one-person households (over 30.0%) – similarly saw per-location visit increases ranging from 3.6% - 7.0%. On the flip side, Fresno, CA, Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV, and San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX, which feature lower-than-average shares of single-person households, saw YoY per-location visit declines ranging from 1.5%-9.5%.
As Dutch Bros. forges ahead with its planned expansions, it may benefit from doubling down on this trends and focusing its development efforts on markets with higher-than-average shares of one-person households – such as university towns or urban areas with lots of young professionals.
Michigan-based BIGGBY COFFEE is another java winner in expansion mode. With a growth strategy focused on emerging markets with less brand saturation, BIGGBY has been setting its sights on small towns and rural areas throughout the Midwest and South. Though the chain does have locations in bigger cities like Detroit and Cincinnati, some of its most significant markets are in smaller population centers.
And a look at the captured markets of BIGGBY’s 20 top-performing locations in early 2024 shows that they are significantly over-indexed for suburban consumers – both compared to BIGGBY as a whole and compared to nationwide baselines. (Top-performing locations are defined as those that experienced the greatest YoY visit growth between January and May 2024).
“Suburban Boomers”, for example – a Spatial.ai: PersonaLive segment encompassing middle-class empty-nesters living in suburbs – comprised 10.6% of BIGGBY’s top captured markets in early 2024, compared to just 6.6% for BIGGBY’s overall. (The nationwide baseline for Suburban Boomers is even lower – 4.4%.) And Upper Diverse Suburban Families – a segment made up of upper-middle-class suburbanites – accounted for 9.6% of the captured markets of BIGGBY’s 20 top locations, compared to just 7.2% for BIGGBY’s as a whole, and 8.3% nationwide.
Coffee has long been one of America’s favorite beverages. And java chains that offer consumers an enjoyable, affordable way to splurge are expanding both their footprints and their audiences. By leaning into shifting work routines and catering to customers’ varying habits and preferences, major coffee players like Starbucks, Dunkin’, Dutch Bros., and BIGGBY COFFEE are continuing to thrive.
