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Darden Restaurants, Inc. operates a portfolio that includes some of the biggest names in full-service dining, including Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Bahama Breeze, and Eddie V’s Prime Seafood.
How are these restaurants performing as Q3 2024 approaches? We took a closer look at the location analytics to find out which restaurant chains are thriving in today’s challenging economic climate.
Darden’s three largest restaurant chains – Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen – are some of the best-known names in casual, full-service dining. These chains have a strong presence across the country and have experienced mainly positive YoY foot traffic this year so far.
Although foot traffic was lower YoY in January and April 2024, these dips can be attributed to external factors, such as January’s inclement weather and an April calendar shift (i.e. the timing of Easter, as well as the extra Saturday in April 2023). And in May the three chains quickly rebounded, ending the month with respective YoY visit increases of 2.4%, 6.4%, and 2.3%.
Darden operates various smaller brands offering different dining styles and price points, ranging from upscale options like Eddie V’s and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse to more casual spots like Bahama Breeze and Yard House. These smaller chains also experienced strong visitation patterns in early 2024 – with May YoY visits up between 3.9% and 8.5%.
Darden’s strong February and May showings were likely fueled, in part, by two distinctly important days on the Darden restaurant calendar: Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.
In absolute terms, Olive Garden – Darden’s largest chain by far – drew the most visits on both holidays as compared to a January 1, 2024 baseline, claiming the top spot this year as America’s favorite Mother’s Day destination. But on a relative basis, Darden’s premium brands Eddie V’s and Ruth Chris experienced the biggest visit spikes, as people splurged on celebratory outings. And laid-back chain Bahama Breeze saw a sustained visit boost from Valentine’s Day through Mother’s Day, likely owing to its strong presence in Florida – making it an attractive destination for the snowbirds and vacationers who visit the state during the winter.
And surprisingly, even casual dining venue Yard House – known for its beer and sports atmosphere rather than romantic setting – experienced a Valentine’s Day visit boost. This suggests that there is a tangible benefit from these holidays across a wide range of dining styles – and restaurant operators can use these insights to encourage visits on such occasions.
Darden continues to attract customers to its restaurants in spite of a challenging economy by offering a variety of dining choices and capitalizing on popular dining-out occasions such as Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day.
Will the company’s visit growth continue to trend upward as 2024 wears on?
Follow Placer.ai for the latest data-driven dining insights.
After a frigid start to the year, how have retail and dining foot traffic fared in the subsequent months? We dove into the data to find out.
Last year was all about experiences. But in 2024, consumer demand is once again striking a balance between “fun and stuff.” Though both retail and dining foot traffic were weighed down by January 2024’s extreme temperatures, the two categories bounced back in February, going on to see consistently positive YoY foot traffic growth through May.
May 2024’s strong showing was likely driven in part by impressive visit boosts on two important calendar highlights: Mother’s Day weekend and Memorial Day weekend. On both of these occasions, retail and dining foot traffic outperformed 2023 levels, a further sign of consumer resilience this year.
And drilling down deeper into data shows that some of this dining growth is being driven by full-service restaurants – another sign that the segment may be experiencing a comeback.
For quite some time, casual dining concepts – including both fast-casual & QSR – have had the upper hand among dining formats, as consumers sought inexpensive ways to splurge and cut back on full-service indulgences. But FSR has begun to rally, with experiential concepts, eatertainment, and breakfast-first chains driving significant traffic.
And location analytics points to a much more level playing field this year, with FSR YoY visit growth outperforming fast-casual & QSR in both March and in May. May’s visit boost in particular was likely aided by holiday visits – on both Mother’s Day and Memorial Day, full-service restaurants drew outsize crowds eager to enjoy nice meals out with friends and family.
A look at statewide visit data for both fast-casual & QSR and for full-service chains during the past three months – comparing March to May 2024 to the equivalent period of last year – shows both segments doing remarkably well throughout most of the U.S.
In the fast-casual & QSR space, all 50 states enjoyed positive YoY visit growth over the past three months – led by North Dakota (6.8%), New Hampshire (5.3%), Minnesota (5.1%), New Mexico (4.3%), and Rhode Island (4.2%). And in FSR, 42 states enjoyed positive growth – with some of the same states, including Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and New Mexico, claiming top spots.
Will full service continue its turnaround in the second half of 2024 and can fast-casual & QSR maintain its strength? How will overall retail traffic fare during the summer months and critical back-to-school season?
Visit Placer.ai to find out.
Hilton Hotels & Resorts and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) are two of the biggest names in lodging. The two companies operate a wide range of hotel brands, ranging from luxury chains to budget options. And falling in the middle of this range are two midscale hotel chains: TRU by Hilton and avid Hotels, operated by IHG.
What can foot traffic and demographic data reveal about the preferences of visitors to these chains? We took a closer look.
TRU by Hilton and avid Hotels both opened their first locations in 2017, with the goal of offering travelers modern and comfortable accommodations while eschewing the amenities typically associated with more luxurious hotel categories. By streamlining services, these hotels can appeal to a diverse range of travelers while maintaining a lower price point.
The two hotel chains have expanded since their openings, with TRU operating 279 locations and avid operating 70 nationwide as of May 2024. And this expansion seems to be paying off for both brands, helping drive YoY monthly visit increases. Since June 2023, visits to the two chains have been consistently elevated YoY, save for a few minor visit lags at TRU.
Hilton and IHG both hope to continue expanding their midscale hotel concepts, with projects in the pipeline for 2024 and beyond. And diving into the demographics can help the hotels identify their strengths and plan out marketing strategies more effectively.
Analyzing the psychographic makeup of TRU and avid’s trade areas by layering Spatial.ai’s PersonaLive dataset onto the two chains’ captured markets reveals that despite their budget offerings, both hotels appeal to economically diverse audiences.
Between June 2023 and May 2024, TRU and avid both attracted visitors from areas with higher-than-average shares of both “Ultra Wealthy Families” and “Blue Collar Suburbs.” The chains’ ability to appeal to both groups shows that their no-frills offerings are appreciated not just by the most price-conscious customers, but also by those with more room in their budgets to splurge.
Still, TRU drew a greater share of visitors over the analyzed period from areas over-indexed for “Ultra Wealthy Families'' – while avid drew slightly more customers from areas over-indexed for “Blue Collar Suburbs.” And diving deeper into the demographic and psychographic characteristics of TRU’s and avid’s captured markets shows that though both chains have broad appeal, there are some differences between their customer bases.
The median household income (HHI) of TRU’s captured market stood at $79.4K during the analyzed period – above the nationwide median – while that of avid remained slightly below it. And while avid’s captured market included a higher-than-average share of “Young Urban Singles” (also from Spatial.ai’s PersonaLive dataset), TRU was more likely to attract “Suburban Boomers.” So while TRU draws a wealthier and more settled clientele, avid tends to attract younger, less established guests.
These differences serve as a reminder of the differences that exist even within similar accommodation categories, and may help the two chains when deciding how to market to their respective customer bases.
Both TRU and avid seem similar enough on paper – two midscale hotel chains, geared towards a traveler that prioritizes value and convenience. And while both chains attract a wide range of households to their venues, TRU tends to see a more affluent, established visitor, while avid seems to attract more guests who are starting out in life.
For more data-driven travel & leisure insights, visit Placer.ai.
With sales exceeding $148 billion in 2023, The Kroger Co. is a leading player in the grocery store space. In addition to its flagship eponymous brand, the company owns a variety of regional banners, including (among others) Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter, Ralphs, Smith’s Food and Drug, Fry’s Food Stores, King Soopers, and Food 4 Less.
We dove into the data to see how key Kroger chains are faring in 2024 – and to explore the different audiences served by the company’s varied portfolio.
With some 1255 locations across 19 states, Kroger is The Kroger Co.’s largest grocery banner by far. And between January and May 2024, visits to the chain accounted for 47.6% of overall foot traffic to the company’s grocery portfolio. The remaining 52.4% of visits went to The Kroger Co.’s smaller banners – with Fred Meyer, Ralphs, and Harris Teeter leading the charge.
And drilling down deeper into the regional distribution of the company’s various grocery banners shows that each chain serves a different area of the country.
Kroger’s eponymous banner holds sway throughout much of the Midwest and South – while Harris Teeter serves shoppers in Maryland, Florida, and the Carolinas. Meanwhile, Fred Meyer, Smith’s, Ralphs, Fry’s, and King Soopers dominate the Western United States. And throughout some parts of the Midwest, Kroger draws consumers with a variety of smaller banners.
Like that of Albertsons, Kroger Co.’s strategy of acquiring and maintaining regional brands has allowed the company to expand its footprint across the country – while catering to the needs and preferences of local shoppers. Indeed, Kroger’s footprint now extends across three of the four U.S. regions – the West, South, and Midwest – with only the Northeast lacking a Kroger Co. presence.
A look at recent visitation trends for Kroger Co.’s largest banners – i.e. those with at least 100 locations – shows that all experienced positive YoY visit growth in Q1 2024. The most impressive foot traffic bumps were seen by Mountain region banners Smith’s and King Soopers, followed by value-oriented Food 4 Less, and the South Atlantic-focused Harris Teeter.
On a monthly basis, too, The Kroger Co.’s major Banners saw nearly uniform YoY visit growth between January and May 2024.
Analyzing demographic differences among the trade areas of Kroger’s different chains shows how the company leverages its portfolio of banners to serve distinct customer bases.
Virginia, for example, is served by two Kroger Co. banners – Kroger and Harris Teeter. And while the former draws shoppers from areas with a median HHI below the statewide baseline of $87.2K, the latter – with somewhat more upscale, pricier offerings – attracts a much more affluent audience. Similar differences can be observed in Wisconsin – where Pick ‘n Save and Metro Market serve different demographics.
By offering a diverse spectrum of shopping experiences, The Kroger Co. strategically positions itself to maximize market penetration and appeal to a broad range of consumers.
The Kroger Co. entered 2024 with a bang. With its extensive reach and adaptive approach, can the grocery leader maintain its positive momentum throughout the rest of the year?
Visit our blog at Placer.ai to find out.
Post-March Madness, many of the NCAA women’s basketball players went on to the WNBA. Caitlin Clark to the Indiana Fever, Cameron Brink to the LA Sparks, and Angel Reese to the Chicago Sky were some of the most hotly anticipated draft picks. The newfound appetite for the WNBA is real. Take Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as an example. Just comparing the time period of April 30-May 31, 2023 vs April 30-May 31, 2024, there is a stark contrast in the number of attendees to home games. In just five games, attendance to this year’s Fever games has already surpassed that of the entire 2023 season.
The trade area draw is also something to note as the area from which 70% of visits originated practically doubled from May 2023 (blue) to May 2024 (red), showing the magnetic effect a star player can have.
This heightened interest is great news for concepts like The Sports Bra, a bar and restaurant based in Portland, Oregon. It’s 100% dedicated to women’s sports so you can be sure to catch your favorite female player on the screen. Since opening in the spring of 2022, it’s had steady business, and odds are with all the women’s sports to watch, there should be a busy summer ahead.
In addition, might the added exposure bring new fans to brands such as Wilson Sporting Goods, which signed Caitlin Clark? This familiar brand opened its first West Coast brick and mortar store on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade just about a year ago. Meanwhile, Angel Reese has signed on some big brands such as Reebok, Raising Cane’s and AirBnB. Former Stanford Cardinal and now LA Sparks superstar Cameron Brink is one of the faces of New Balance, and has starred in an ad with Shohei Otani and Coco Gauff.
Over Memorial Day Weekend, Wayfair opened its highly anticipated addition to the world of physical retail, something we've been waiting for since the company's large-format store plan first came into view in early 2022. Technically, Wayfair’s new mega-store, sized at 150,000 square feet in Wilmette, Illinois, isn’t its first foray into brick-and-mortar, but it is certainly its splashiest. In an era when many home furnishing retailers are going small, early indications from Placer show that betting big has yielded success in attracting visitors, but questions about the longevity of success and health of the broader home industry remain.
This week, we had a chance to visit the store ourselves, and it's immediately evident how much attention was put into the store. Most visitors enter through the "Market Square", which feature unique housewares, locally-relevant products, and seasonal merchandise. Above the Market Square is a large video board that showcases certain products and other digital media assets which help set the tone for the shopping experience.
According to the retailer, its first namesake location brings a new shopping experience to consumers and features its first food service offering, The Porch (below).
The store also features an expanded selection and one-on-one personal design services, which can be seen in store layout below. The new location clearly took learnings from other Wayfair-owned brands like Joss & Main or All Modern, each of which have also opened physical stores.
The Wilmette large format store opened on May 23, just in time for Memorial Day Weekend foot traffic, and the location greatly benefitted from the timing. According to Placer’s early reads from May 18-June 1, 2024, Wayfair’s visits accounted for almost half of the visits to Edens Plaza (below), the shopping center in which it’s located. Beyond that, during its opening weekend from May 23-27, it drove 60% of visits to the plaza. The shopping center is located right off the Edens expressway, and the store is visible from the road, which helping to draw the attention of travelers.
Wayfair’s debut is a clear victory for the shopping center, with the store’s first few weeks helping to attract new visitors to the center. Comparing the two week period before the store opening to the two weeks of its opening using Spatial.ai’s PersonaLive segments, the percentage of visits coming from trade areas from Ultra Wealthy Families--the typical center visitors--actually decreased from 45% to 32%. However, there was a large increase in the percentage of visits by Educated Urbanites and Young Professionals. Buzzworthy openings help to revitalize shopping centers and Wayfair’s initial success will hopefully provide some meaningful shifts in visitors beyond the first few weeks.
Home furnishing retailers, in particular, have made experiences and expanded service offerings a cornerstone of their strategies to foster a captive consumer audience and increase dwell time, and hopefully conversion. Looking at local home furnishing experiential retail locations in the Metro Chicago area, Wayfair’s opening splash is even more apparent with its two story, expansive footprint. Compared to the closest IKEA store (Schaumburg), Wayfair Wilmette's visits were 12% higher during its initial two-week period and saw 19% more visits than IKEA during the highest traffic day of opening weekend. The trade area of the two retailers, even in the first two weeks, starts to tell the story of the visiting consumer; Wayfair drove more visits despite having a smaller trade area than IKEA and more overlapping territory, and primarily pulled its visitors from the northern Chicago suburbs.
Wayfair’s early indicators of traffic highlight a combination of the right concept, the right consumer, and the right location. It will be fascinating to watch the long-term visit trends for Wayfair, especially compared to other large-scale regional furniture retailers. Despite many home furnishing retailers looking to smaller formats for growth, if Wayfair’s location sustains its traffic growth, larger-format stores may become an attractive solution for shopping centers to revitalize themselves.
The positive retail momentum observed in Q1 2024 continued into Q2 – as stabilizing prices and a strong job market fostered cautious optimism among consumers. Year-over-year (YoY) retail foot traffic remained elevated throughout the quarter, with June in particular seeing significant weekly visit boosts ranging from 4.7% to 8.5%.
The robustness of the retail sector in Q2 was also highlighted by positive visit growth during the quarter’s special calendar occasions, including Mother’s Day (the week of May 6th) and Memorial Day (the week of May 27th). And though consumer spending may moderate as the year wears on, retail’s strong Q2 showing offers plenty of room for optimism ahead of back-to-school sales and other summer milestones.
On a quarterly basis, overall retail visits rose 4.2% in Q2. And diving into specific categories shows that value continued to reign supreme, with discount and dollar stores seeing the most robust YoY visit growth (11.2%) of any analyzed category.
Other essential goods purveyors, such as grocery store chains (7.6%) and superstores (4.6%), also outperformed the overall retail baseline. And fitness – a category deemed essential by many health-conscious consumers – outpaced overall retail with a substantial 6.0% YoY foot traffic increase.
The decidedly more discretionary home improvement industry performed less well than overall retail in Q2 – but in another sign of consumer resilience, it too experienced a YoY visit uptick. And overall restaurant foot traffic increased 2.6% YoY.
Discount and dollar stores enjoyed a strong Q2 2024, maintaining YoY visit growth above 10.0% for six out of the quarter’s 13 weeks. Only during the week of April 1st did the category see a temporary decline, likely the result of an Easter calendar shift. (The week of April 1st 2024 is being compared to the week of April 3rd, 2023, which included the run-up to Easter)
Some of this growth can be attributed to the continued expansion of segment leaders like Dollar General. But the category has also been bolstered by the emphasis consumers continue to place on value in the face of still-high prices and economic uncertainty.
Dollar General, which has been expanding both its store count and its grocery offerings, saw YoY visits increase between 9.1% and 15.9% throughout the quarter. Affordable-indulgence-oriented Five Below, which has also been adding locations at a brisk clip, saw YoY visits increase between 4.9% and 18.8%.
And though Dollar Tree has taken steps to rightsize its Family Dollar brand, the company’s eponymous banner – which caters to middle-income consumers in suburban areas – continued to grow both its store count and its visits in Q2.
Grocery store chains also performed well in Q2 2024 – experiencing strongly positive foot traffic growth throughout the quarter. Though the sector continues to face its share of challenges, stabilizing food-at-home prices and improvements in employee retention and supply chain management have helped propel the industry forward.
Diving into the performance of specific chains shows that within the grocery segment, too, price was paramount in Q2 2024 – with limited-assortment value grocery stores like Aldi and Trader Joe’s leading the way.
Traditional chains H-E-B and Food Lion (owned by Ahold Delhaize) – both of which are known for relatively low prices – outperformed the wider grocery sector with respective YoY foot traffic boosts of 11.4% and 8.7%. But ShopRite, Safeway (owned by Albertsons), Kroger, and Albertsons also drew more visits in Q2 2024 than in the equivalent period of last year.
Fitness has proven to be relatively inflation-proof in recent years – thriving even in the face of reduced discretionary spending and consumer cutbacks. Indeed, rising prices may have actually helped boost gym attendance, as people sought to squeeze the most value out of their monthly fees and replace pricy outings with already-paid-for gym excursions.
And despite lapping a remarkably strong 2023, visits to gyms nationwide remained elevated YoY in Q2 2024.
Diving into the data for some of the nation’s leading gyms shows that today’s fitness market has plenty of room at the top. Planet Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, Life Time Fitness, Orangetheory Fitness, and LA Fitness all experienced YoY visit growth in Q2 2024 – reflecting consumers’ enduring interest in all things wellness-related.
But it was EōS Fitness and Crunch Fitness – two value gyms that have been pursuing aggressive expansion strategies – that really hit it out of the park, with respective YoY foot traffic increases of 23.4% and 21.4%.
The week of April 1st saw a decline in YoY visits to superstores – likely attributable to the Easter calendar shift noted above. But the category quickly rallied, and with back-to-school shopping and major superstore sales events coming up this July, the category appears poised to enjoy continued success throughout the summer.
Within the superstore category, wholesale clubs continued to stand out – with Costco Wholesale, Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club enjoying YoY foot traffic growth ranging from 12.0% to 7.4%. But Target and Walmart also impressed with 4.6% and 4.0% YoY visit increases.
Inflation, elevated interest rates, and a sluggish real estate market have created a perfect storm for the home improvement industry, with spending on renovations in decline. The accelerated return to office has likely also taken its toll on the category, as people spend more time outside the home and have less availability to immerse themselves in DIY projects.
But despite these challenges, weekly YoY foot traffic to home improvement and furnishing chains remained elevated throughout much of the Q2 – with June and April seeing mostly positive YoY visit growth, and May hovering just below 2023 levels. This (modest) visit growth may be driven by consumers loading up on supplies for necessary home repairs, or by shoppers seeking materials for smaller projects. And given the importance of Q2 for the home improvement sector, this largely positive snapshot may offer some promise of good things to come.
Some chains within the home improvement category continued to perform especially well in Q2 2024 – with rapidly expanding, budget-oriented Harbor Freight Tools leading the pack. But Ace Hardware, Menards, The Home Depot, and Lowe’s also saw foot traffic increases in Q2, showcasing the category’s resilience in the face of headwinds.
Restaurants – including full-service restaurants (FSR), quick-service restaurants (QSR), fast-casual chains, and coffee chains – lagged behind grocery stores and other essential goods retailers in Q2 2024, as price-sensitive consumers prioritized needs over wants and ate at home more often.
Still, YoY restaurant foot traffic remained up throughout most of the quarter. And impressively, the sector saw a YoY visit uptick during the week of Mother’s Day (the week of May 6th, 2024, compared to the week of May 8th, 2023) – an important milestone for FSR.
The restaurant industry’s YoY visit growth was felt across segments – though fast-casual and coffee chains experienced the biggest visit boosts. Like in Q1 2024, fast-casual restaurants hit the sweet spot between indulgence and affordability, outpacing QSR in the wake of fast food price hikes. And building on the positive YoY trendline that began to emerge last quarter, full-service restaurants finished Q2 2024 with a 1.4% YoY visit uptick.
Chain expansion was the name of the restaurant game in Q2 2024, with several chains that have been growing their footprints outperforming segment averages – including CAVA, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Ziggi’s Coffee, California-based Philz Coffee, Raising Cane’s, Whataburger, and First Watch. Chili’s Grill and Bar also outpaced the full-service category average, aided by the revamping of its “3 for Me” menu.
Retailers and restaurants in Q2 2024 continued to face plenty of challenges, from inflation to rising labor costs and volatile consumer confidence. But foot traffic trends across industries – including both essential goods purveyors like grocery stores and more discretionary categories like home improvement and restaurants – suggest plenty of room for cautious optimism as 2024 wears on.
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.
