.svg)
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is already reshaping foot traffic across the country - filling stadiums, lifting restaurant traffic near host venues, and drawing fans to watch parties and festivals. But one of the tournament's clearest retail beneficiaries may be its most visible sponsor: adidas, supplier of the official Trionda match ball and kit provider to national teams from Mexico to Argentina.
Heading into the spring, adidas stores were fighting an uphill battle - weekly visits ran below 2025 levels for most of April, bottoming out at -20.5% YoY the week of April 13th. Traffic gradually stabilized through May, and then the World Cup arrived.
During the week of June 8th – which included the tournament’s June 11th kickoff and the USMNT’s 4-1 opening win over Paraguay at SoFi Stadium – adidas store visits climbed 14.3% YoY. Momentum then accelerated the following week, the first full week of group-stage play, when the USMNT defeated Australia in Seattle and adidas visits surged 44.7% above the same week last year.
Father’s Day, which fell on June 21st this year, may have contributed to that jump, since the comparison week in 2025 began the day after Father’s Day. But the magnitude of the spike, along with its staying power in subsequent weeks, suggests that tournament-driven excitement was the main driver.
Big temporary visit spikes often fade fast – but this one hasn’t. During the weeks of June 22nd and June 29th, visits remained elevated more than 20% YoY – suggesting that the tournament is driving a sustained shift in demand, not just a burst of opening-week excitement.
The World Cup's foot traffic ripple effects extend well beyond the stadiums - into dining, retail, and beyond. And while global sponsorships are usually measured in impressions, location intelligence makes them measurable in visits. For adidas, supplying the match ball and outfitting some of the tournament's biggest teams moved fans into stores, week after week. With knockout rounds running through the July 19th final, the three stripes may not be done running up the score.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Coffee shops remain one of dining’s most dependable bright spots, as consumers continue to splurge on affordable indulgences even while cutting back on pricier outings. In H1 2026, coffee visits were up 4.1% year over year (YoY), even as overall dining traffic fell 0.4%. But in some metros, the caffeine rush was running much stronger.
This month's Placer 5 highlights the nation’s top five major coffee markets – metro areas that logged upwards of 10 million coffee shop visits in H1 2026, where coffee shops saw the most YoY visit growth. Each one is thriving for its own reasons, and together they show that there are many ways to win at coffee.
For many of these metros, coffee visit growth was driven at least in part by fleet expansion. But in all five markets, average visits per coffee shop also rose YoY, suggesting that existing venues are also drawing bigger crowds.
Still, each metro brews its own story.
In inland California’s Riverside and Bakersfield, the surges were powered primarily by Starbucks and Dutch Bros, with Bakersfield – the only analyzed metro without an increase in major coffee chain locations in H1 – seeing traffic at existing coffee shops rise significantly even as the overall store count edged down.
In Indianapolis and Kansas City, meanwhile, coffee visits were propelled in part by the drive-thru coffee wave sweeping the middle of the country – a format with so much momentum that Technomic’s 2026 America’s Favorite Chains ranking featured three drive-thru coffee brands in its top 10 for the first time ever. Alongside new Dutch Bros locations, fast-growing 7 Brew also expanded its footprint in both metros. Their car-friendly layouts make Indianapolis and Kansas City natural magnets for the format – and with per-location visits still climbing, the new stands appear to be filling up as fast as they open.
Orlando, for its part, appears to be riding a more general demand wave. The metro's population grew 1.29% between July 2024 and July 2025 – well ahead of the 0.52% national average – while record tourist visits kept vacation mornings busy. More residents and more visitors translate directly into more lattes – and several major chains added stores to keep pace.
Tourism and population growth in Orlando, a drive-thru boom in the heartland, and steady strength in inland California – the standout coffee metros of 2026 each found their own path to growth. And it's worth noting that all five sit far from Stars Hollow of Gilmore Girls’ fame: the Northeast may claim the diner-counter coffee mystique, but the caffeine craze is a truly national affair.
The result is a coffee category that remains highly adaptable. Whether fueled by convenience, expansion, tourism, or loyal daily routines, America's coffee shop segment continues to find new ways to keep visits percolating.
Over the past two decades, Boston's Seaport has undergone a remarkable transformation – evolving from an underutilized stretch of waterfront into one of the city's most vibrant mixed-use destinations. The story of Seaport highlights a critical lesson in real estate development: What you build matters, but creating reasons for people to visit, linger, and return matters just as much.
Using AI-powered location intelligence, we explored Seaport's recent growth and the role of community programming, experiential retail, and other placemaking initiatives in making it one of Boston's premier retail corridors.
Experiences and community have been central to Boston Seaport’s historic revitalization. In the late 2010s, mixed-use development and entertainment anchors helped to establish Seaport as a leisure-time destination, while initiatives like Snowport, Seaport Sweat, and The Current emphasized neighborhood programming and experiential concepts. During this period, visitation consistently peaked in the summer, which remained the corridor’s primary traffic driver.
And although visits to the corridor fell sharply at the onset of the pandemic, Seaport continued to invest in public spaces. When social gatherings resumed, new mixed-use projects like Harbor Way, The Superette, and The Paseo helped to reinforce Seaport as an experience-driven destination and fuel the neighborhood’s foot traffic rebound.
Since then, expanded seasonal programming has diversified visitation beyond the summer months. The launch of The Holiday Market in 2021 complemented the already popular Snowport activation, creating a new seasonal traffic peak. Since its introduction, December has consistently generated a significant surge in visitation – a pattern that was largely absent before the pandemic.
Still, summer remains Seaport’s peak season, with the fair-weather appeal of its outdoor spaces becoming the backdrop for community and engagement. Seaport’s summer programming continues to expand, and with it, foot traffic to the corridor, which has risen nearly every year since COVID, exceeding pre-pandemic levels in the summer of 2025 and again in May and June 2026. And with new social venues, America 250 events, and World Cup action taking place in Boston and within the Seaport corridor, the stage is set for another robust summer season.
While some of Seaport's visitation growth can be attributed to the neighborhood's continued real estate development, a closer look at visitor dwell times provides further evidence that foot traffic is being driven by deeper engagement, not just new construction.
Extended visits consistently account for a significant share of Seaport’s overall traffic. Between January and June 2026, out-of-market visits lasting more than 150 minutes (excluding local employees) represented 39.7% of total visits to the corridor, up from 38.4% in 2025. And over the past six months, visits exceeding 150 minutes consistently outperformed overall visits year-over-year (YoY) – suggesting that visitors are becoming more engaged with the area's retail, dining, and public spaces.
Extended visits and increasing foot traffic aren't the only indicators of Seaport's upward trajectory. Audience segmentation suggests that the corridor’s experiential recreation and retail are helping to attract an affluent consumer base – a valuable cohort in today's bifurcated economic environment.
Location intelligence combined with the STI: PopStats dataset reveals that the Seaport retail corridor attracts a relatively affluent audience, with a trade area median household income (HHI) of $131.3K over the past six months, compared to $124.8K for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH CBSA overall. But concepts such as Ballers – a new padel and pickleball venue with social events – and The Current, a seasonal retail pop-up along Seaport's main pedestrian thoroughfare, draw even more affluent audiences. The captured market median HHIs for these venues were $143.6K and $144.1K, respectively.
Further analysis using the Spatial.ai: PersonaLive dataset suggests that Ballers and The Current attract distinct mixes of affluent consumers. The Current attracts a substantially larger share of Ultra Wealthy Families (24.5%) than either Ballers (17.5%) or the Seaport retail corridor overall (19.4%). Meanwhile, Ballers over-indexes for Educated Urbanites – affluent young professionals living in dense urban areas – relative to both The Current and the broader corridor. This suggests that Seaport's growing mix of experiential concepts is deepening the corridor's appeal across multiple affluent audience segments.
For retail corridors, creating reasons to visit is just as important as creating places to shop.
Boston's Seaport illustrates how placemaking extends beyond development itself. While new retail, dining, and mixed-use projects have reshaped the neighborhood, the data suggests that ongoing investments in programming, public spaces, and experiential concepts have helped transform the corridor into a destination for community engagement.
As Seaport prepares for another busy summer, pairing physical development with curated experiences is likely to sustain the corridor's momentum.
For more insights, visit Placer.ai/anchor.
Spoiler Alert – one of the key pieces of our look back on Q3 will be a focus on those who benefitted from World Cup visitation.
But soccer’s quadrennial – yup, it’s a word, I looked it up – kicked off in June, and brands like Chipotle got into the action. The chain's Buy One Get One (BOGO) free campaign on June 11th drove the highest visit count for the entire year, surpassing a former BOGO-driven peak in March. The lesson? Value works, but value plus a buzzy reason to visit works even better.
It does feel like every time the wider home improvement sector is poised to have a breakout period, something happens to dampen the potential. In 2025, just as visits were starting to rise, momentum stalled as consumers faced with the threat of tariffs looked to offset the risk of rising prices by deferring certain purchases. And it happened in the middle of the segment’s seasonal peak.
In 2026, it was rising gas prices – again during the segment’s most highly trafficked period. Year-over-year visits for the sector went from up 3.6% on average for January and February, to being up just 0.4% on average for March, April and May year over year. The same was seen for the sector’s leaders with Home Depot going from average monthly visit increases of 2.7% in January and February to a decline of 0.2% in March and May, and Lowe’s going from 3.0% to up just 0.7% during those same periods.
The takeaway? The home improvement sector – and leaders Home Depot and Lowe’s – are probably in a better position than they are showing. A little bit of luck – or just the removal of bad timing – seems to be all that stands in the way of significant and ongoing visit growth. Just another reason why the segment and these chains in particular are high on our watch list for the second half of 2026.
Many pontificated about why the rising retail leader would make a move on Everlane, pointing to the lift received from tapping into a socially conscious retail brand. And while this is very likely a piece of the puzzle, there are elements that should not be overlooked.
Not only does Everlane offer the positive brand lift associated with a player committed to certain values, it also offers more access to key markets and audiences – in this case young, high earning urban shoppers and wealthy families, among others. Shein – via a range of pop up experiments – has already displayed an understanding of the value of physical spaces and the benefits that come from offline touchpoints, especially with the aim of user acquisition. With Everlane, they leverage these touchpoints to bring customers – existing and potential – into an even larger world of apparel options.
And the user acquisition piece is key. The use of spaces as an entry point into the wider Shein ecosystem will offer massive long term potential.
One of the more fascinating data points of the year thus far was the incredible correlation between rising gas prices and visits to membership clubs – Costco, BJ’s Wholesale, Sam’s Club – gas locations.
The takeaway here is absolutely clear – when prices rise these locations are trusted by customers to provide the best possible value. But the really important takeaway is that these ‘shorter term’ swings have significant and long term impacts for these retailers. During the pandemic we saw that visits to locations like these don’t just provide a quick win, they indicate a likelihood that these visitors will now be making membership club locations a larger and ongoing part of their retail patterns.
Providing value amid surging gas prices is just another example of an opportunity these leaders are taking to create a win for customers – something they have proven uniquely capable of turning into long term loyalty.
Super Mario launched at the very tail end of Q1, but it was the first signal of the huge potential movie theatre traffic would have in 2026. Obviously, the peak summer months of July and August will carry a huge amount of weight in this conversation, but the spikes driven by Toy Story 5 and others in Q2 were the necessary ‘next signal’ that the run of blockbusters scheduled for this year could drive big visits.
The other area to track here is who else benefits. We’ve talked a lot about limited time offers - especially those tied to movie releases or other anchors that create urgency. And with so many movies coming, and so many of these having significant retail and dining tie-ins, the wider impact could be even larger.
Every year we gather in Las Vegas for a pulse check on the state of retail real estate. And 2026 continued a trend of clear and significant confidence that the positioning of physical stores and dining locations is in a very strong place.
The big question is now less about how rosy or bleak the segment’s future is, but which players will take advantage of the current state of strength to future proof their portfolios by taking calculated risks on how to up level shopping centers and the retail spaces within them.
%20(1).avif)
The return-to-office (RTO) wars are grinding on. Mandates are expanding across the private and public sectors, and employers are getting more serious about enforcement. But even as the share of Fortune 100 companies requiring full-time in-person work has climbed to 55%, employees continue to push back in ways both visible and subtle – from protests and petitions to "hushed hybrid" workarounds and coffee badging – quiet quitting's caffeinated cousin.
So where does actual attendance stand? We dove into the data to find out.
Nationwide office visits in June 2026 jumped 8.5% year over year (YoY) and stood 21.0% below June 2019 levels. But June 2026 also came with a calendar assist: The month had 21 working days, compared to 20 in both June 2025 and June 2019. And Juneteenth fell on a Friday this year, rather than a Thursday as in 2025 – meaning the holiday landed on what is typically the week’s quietest office day, likely blunting its drag on attendance.
On a per-working-day basis, office visits rose a more modest 3.3% YoY, continuing the slow but stubborn climb the index has traced for the past several months. Still, even when normalizing for business days, June emerged as the single busiest in-office month since COVID began in March 2020.
Nationwide Office Index, June 2026
| Total Visits | Avg. Visits Per Working Day |
|---|---|
|
Compared to June 2019
Pre-pandemic
▼21.0%
|
Compared to June 2019
Pre-pandemic
▼24.8%
|
|
Compared to June 2025
Year over year
▲8.5%
|
Compared to June 2025
Year over year
▲3.3%
|
Click a key in the legend below to show or hide either line.
Market-level data shows that many analyzed metros – including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami – reached new post-pandemic office attendance highs in June after adjusting for the number of working days. But Miami was the clear June RTO winner, with office visits surpassing 2019 levels. Critically, this is still an estimation, and it remains to be seen how Miami’s recovery will continue to play out over the long term. Still, the obvious takeaway is that the Florida hub – which has also seen the lowest vacancy rate of any major U.S. office market in recent months – is in an especially strong position as the RTO continues.
Every major market also posted YoY visit growth, with Los Angeles leading the pack. The market was lapping a soft June 2025, when local protests disrupted commuting routines – though L.A.’s solid showing in recent months suggests the jump reflects more than an easy comparison. San Francisco ranked second, continuing the momentum that made it the YoY growth leader in May. And Chicago also logged a substantial YoY gain, moving into the middle of the post-pandemic recovery pack as its downtown office market recorded its first vacancy decline in fifteen quarters in Q2 2026.
With California's four-day mandate for state workers taking effect July 1, and full-time office requirements set to roll out this September at employers including Fidelity and TikTok, the second half of 2026 may bring fresh RTO tailwinds. Will these policies push the recovery even further ahead? And will Miami's move above pre-COVID levels hold over time? Time will tell.
For more data-driven RTO insights, visit Placer.ai/anchor.
.avif)
From Michigan Avenue to Main Street, retail corridors have long served as a barometer of urban vitality – and their post-pandemic trajectory has become one of the most closely watched storylines in retail real estate. We dove into the data to see how these districts are faring in 2026, and what AI-powered location analytics reveal about when, and why, people are showing up.
After several years of gradual improvement, the post-pandemic retail corridor recovery stalled in early 2026. Visits remained 12.6% below 2019 levels in Q1 and 12.5% below in Q2, reversing some of the gains made during 2025, when the Q2 gap had narrowed to just 9.5%. The slowdown coincided with a broader cooling in consumer demand, with shoppers growing more selective and trimming discretionary purchases.
So what's behind the widening recovery gap, and where are the bright spots?
Comparing Q2 2026 visits with Q2 2019 by daypart shows that the largest remaining recovery deficit is concentrated during weekday mornings and afternoons, with Monday through Friday visits between 8 AM and 4 PM still running 20% to 30% below pre-pandemic levels. That pattern closely mirrors office attendance trends, which remained roughly 30% below pre-pandemic levels this spring. With fewer commuters flowing through downtowns, the coffee runs, lunch breaks, and midday errands that once sustained corridor traffic have yet to fully return.
The pattern, however, is markedly different on weekends. Visit gaps on Saturday and Sunday mornings were significantly smaller and narrowed throughout the day before disappearing entirely by evening. Friday visits between 8 PM and 12 AM exceeded Q2 2019 levels by 2.0%, while Saturday evening visits came in 0.7% above the pre-pandemic benchmark.
In other words, while remote work continues to reshape weekday routines and consumers scale back daytime shopping, retail corridors remain compelling destinations for entertainment, socializing, and dining. The trend aligns with broader consumer spending patterns showing that even budget-conscious households continue to prioritize experiences over goods. It also reflects what's happening on the ground in downtowns nationwide, where restaurants are driving retail leasing activity and cities are increasingly investing in programming that attracts visitors after hours.
Year-over-year data also shows that even though the recovery has stalled, evenings continue to gain momentum. Although overall retail corridor visits fell 3.3% in Q2 2026, nighttime visitation increased across the week. Weekend mornings also proved relatively resilient, while midday shopping hours (12 PM to 4 PM) posted the steepest declines.
At the same time, average dwell time rose from 118.0 minutes in Q2 2025 to 123.0 minutes in Q2 2026. So while fewer people may be visiting retail corridors overall, those who do visit appear to be staying longer than they did last year – a sign that corridors are increasingly serving as destinations in their own right.
Retail corridors may still be waiting on the office worker, but they are increasingly winning the off-the-clock hours. As daytime shopping softens, evenings have become the corridors' engine of growth – especially on Fridays and Saturdays – powered by diners, barhoppers, and experience-seekers who keep showing up even as they tighten their belts elsewhere. For retailers, restaurants, property owners, and civic stakeholders, the evening and weekend windows look like the clearest growth opportunities of 2026.
Will nighttime visitation continue gaining momentum in the second half of the year? Or will office recovery finally spark a weekday daytime comeback? Visit placer.ai/anchor to find out.
The restaurant space has experienced its fair share of challenges in recent years – from pandemic-related closures to rising labor and ingredient costs. Despite these hurdles, the category is holding its own, with total 2024 spending projected to reach $1.1 trillion by the end of the year.
And an analysis of year-over-year (YoY) visitation trends to restaurants nationwide shows that consumers are frequenting dining establishments in growing numbers – despite food-away-from-home prices that remain stubbornly high.
Overall, monthly visits to restaurants were up nearly every month this year compared to the equivalent periods of 2023. Only in January, when inclement weather kept many consumers at home, did restaurants see a significant YoY drop. Throughout the rest of the analyzed period, YoY visits either held steady or grew – showing that Americans are finding room in their budgets to treat themselves to tasty, hassle-free meals.
Still, costs remain elevated and dining preferences have shifted, with consumers prioritizing value and convenience – and restaurants across segments are looking for ways to meet these changing needs. This white paper dives into the data to explore the trends impacting quick-service restaurants (QSR), full-service restaurants (FSR), and fast-casual dining venues – and strategies all three categories are using to stay ahead of the pack.
Overall, the dining sector has performed well in 2024, but a closer look at specific segments within the industry shows that fast-casual restaurants are outperforming both QSR and FSR chains.
Between January and August 2024, visits to fast-casual establishments were up 3.3% YoY, while QSR visits grew by just 0.7%, and FSR visits fell by 0.3% YoY. As eating out becomes more expensive, consumers are gravitating toward dining options that offer better perceived value without compromising on quality. Fast-casual chains, which balance affordability with higher-quality ingredients and experiences, have increasingly become the go-to choice for value-conscious diners.
Fast-casual restaurants also tend to attract a higher-income demographic. Between January and August 2024, fast-casual restaurants drew visitors from Census Block Groups (CBGs) with a weighted median household income of $78.2K – higher than the nationwide median of $76.1K. (The CBGs feeding visits to these restaurants, weighted to reflect the share of visits from each CBG, are collectively referred to as their captured market).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, quick-service restaurants drew visitors from much less affluent areas. But interestingly, despite their pricier offerings, full-service restaurants also drew visitors from CBGs with a median HHI below the nationwide baseline. While fast-casual restaurants likely attract office-goers and other routine diners that can afford to eat out on a more regular basis, FSR chains may serve as special occasion destinations for those with more moderate means.
Though QSR, FSR, and fast-casual spots all seek to provide strong value propositions, dining chains across segments have been forced to raise prices over the past year to offset rising food and labor costs. This next section takes a look at several chains that have succeeded in raising prices without sacrificing visit growth – to explore some of the strategies that have enabled them to thrive.
The fast-casual restaurant space attracts diners that are on the wealthier side – but some establishments cater to even higher earners. One chain of note is NYC-based burger chain Shake Shack, which features a captured market median HHI of $94.3K. In comparison, the typical fast-casual diner comes from areas with a median HHI of $78.2K.
Shake Shack emphasizes high-quality ingredients and prices its offerings accordingly. The chain, which has been expanding its footprint, strategically places its locations in affluent, upscale, and high-traffic neighborhoods – driving foot traffic that consistently surpasses other fast-casual chains. And this elevated foot traffic has continued to impress, even as Shake Shack has raised its prices by 2.5% over the past year.
Steakhouse chain Texas Roadhouse has enjoyed a positive few years, weathering the pandemic with aplomb before moving into an expansion phase. And this year, the chain ranked in the top five for service, food quality, and overall experience by the 2024 Datassential Top 500 Restaurant Chain.
Like Shake Shack, Texas Roadhouse has raised its prices over the past year – three times – while maintaining impressive visit metrics. Between January and August 2024, foot traffic to the steakhouse grew by 9.7% YoY, outpacing visits to the overall FSR segment by wide margins.
This foot traffic growth is fueled not only by expansion but also by the chain's ability to draw traffic during quieter dayparts like weekday afternoons, while at the same time capitalizing on high-traffic times like weekends. Some 27.7% of weekday visits to Texas Roadhouse take place between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM – compared to just 18.9% for the broader FSR segment – thanks to the chain’s happy hour offerings early dining specials. And 43.3% of visits to the popular steakhouse take place on Saturdays and Sundays, when many diners are increasingly choosing to splurge on restaurant meals, compared to 38.4% for the wider category.
Though rising costs have been on everybody’s minds, summer 2024 may be best remembered as the summer of value – with many quick-service restaurants seeking to counter higher prices by embracing Limited-Time Offers (LTOs). These LTOs offered diners the opportunity to save at the register and get more bang for their buck – while boosting visits at QSR chains across the country.
Limited time offers such as discounted meals and combo offers can encourage frequent visits, and Hardee’s $5.99 "Original Bag" combo, launched in August 2024, did just that. The combo allowed diners to mix and match popular items like the Double Cheeseburger and Hand-Breaded Chicken Tender Wraps, offering both variety and affordability. And visits to the chain during the month of August 2024 were 4.9% higher than Hardee’s year-to-date (YTD) monthly visit average.
August’s LTO also drove up Hardee’s already-impressive loyalty rates. Between May and July 2024, 40.1% to 43.4% of visits came from customers who visited Hardee’s at least three times during the month, likely encouraged by Hardee’s top-ranking loyalty program. But in August, Hardee’s share of loyal visits jumped to 51.5%, highlighting just how receptive many diners are to eating out – as long as they feel they are getting their money’s worth.
McDonald’s launched its own limited-time offer in late June 2024, aimed at providing value to budget-conscious consumers. And the LTO – McDonald’s foray into this summer’s QSR value wars – was such a resounding success that the fast-food leader decided to extend the deal into December.
McDonald’s LTO drove foot traffic to restaurants nationwide. But a closer look at the chain’s regional captured markets shows that the offer resonated particularly well with “Young Urban Singles” – a segment group defined by Spatial.ai's PersonaLive dataset as young singles beginning their careers in trade jobs. McDonald's locations in states where the captured market shares of this demographic surpassed statewide averages by wider margins saw bigger visit boosts in July 2024 – and the correlation was a strong one.
For example, the share of “Young Urban Singles” in McDonald’s Massachusetts captured market was 56.0% higher than the Massachusetts statewide baseline – and the chain saw a 10.6% visit boost in July 2024, compared to the chain's statewide H1 2024 monthly average. But in Florida, where McDonald’s captured markets were over-indexed for “Young Urban Singles” by just 13% compared to the statewide average, foot traffic jumped in July 2024 by a relatively modest 7.3%.
These young, price-conscious consumers, who are receptive to spending their discretionary income on dining out, are not the sole driver of McDonald’s LTO foot traffic success. Still, the promotion’s outsize performance in areas where McDonald’s attracts higher-than-average shares of Young Urban Singles shows that the offering was well-tailored to meet the particular needs and preferences of this key demographic.
While QSR, fast-casual, and FSR chains have largely boosted foot traffic through deals and specials, reputation is another powerful way to attract diners. Restaurants that earn a coveted Michelin Star often see a surge in visits, as was the case for Causa – a Peruvian dining destination in Washington, D.C. The restaurant received its first Michelin Star in November 2023, a major milestone for Chef Carlos Delgado.
The Michelin Star elevated the restaurant's profile, drawing in affluent diners who prioritize exclusivity and are less sensitive to price increases. Since the award, Causa saw its share of the "Power Elite" segment group in its captured market increase from 24.7% to 26.6%. Diners were also more willing to travel for the opportunity to partake in the Causa experience: In the six months following the award, some 40.3% of visitors to the restaurant came from more than ten miles away, compared to just 30.3% in the six months prior.
These data points highlight the power of a Michelin Star to increase a restaurant’s draw and attract more affluent audiences – allowing it to raise prices without losing its core clientele. Wealthier diners often seek unique culinary experiences, where price is less of a concern, making these establishments more resilient to inflation than more venues that serve more price-sensitive customers.
Dining preferences continue to evolve as restaurants adapt to a rapidly changing culinary landscape. From the rise in fast-casual dining to the benefits of limited-time offers, the analyzed restaurant categories are determining how to best reach their target audiences. By staying up-to-date with what people are eating, these restaurant categories can hope to continue bringing customers through the door.
The COVID-19 pandemic – and the subsequent shift to remote work – has fundamentally redefined where and how people live and work, creating new opportunities for smaller cities to thrive.
But where are relocators going in 2024 – and what are they looking for? This post dives into the data for several CBSAs with populations ranging from 500K to 2.5 million that have seen positive net domestic migration over the past several years – where population inflow outpaces outflow. Who is moving to these hubs, and what is drawing them?
The past few years have seen a shift in where people are moving. While major metropolitan areas like New York still attract newcomers, smaller cities, which offer a balance of affordability, livability, and career opportunities, are becoming attractive alternatives for those looking to relocate.
Between July 2020 and July 2024, for example, the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX CBSA, saw net domestic migration of 3.6% – not surprising, given the city of Austin’s ranking among U.S. News and World Report’s top places to live in 2024-5. Raleigh-Cary, NC, which also made the list, experienced net population inflow of 2.6%. And other metro areas, including Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR (3.3%), Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA (1.4%), Oklahoma City, OK (1.1%), and Madison, WI (0.6%) have seen more domestic relocators moving in than out over the past four years.
All of these CBSAs have also continued to see positive net migration over the past 12 months – highlighting their continued appeal into 2024.
What is driving domestic migration to these hubs? While these metropolitan areas span various regions of the country, they share a common characteristic: They all attract residents coming, on average, from CBSAs with younger and less affluent populations.
Between July 2020 and July 2024, for example, relocators to high-income Raleigh, NC – where the median household income (HHI) stands at $84K – tended to hail from CBSAs with a significantly lower weighted median HHI ($66.9K). Similarly, those moving to Austin, TX – where the median HHI is $85.4K – tended to come from regions with a median HHI of $69.9K. This pattern suggests that these cities offer newcomers an aspirational leap in both career and financial prospects.
Moreover, most of these CBSAs are drawing residents with a younger weighted median age than that of their existing residents, reinforcing their appeal as destinations for those still establishing and growing their careers. Des Moines and Oklahoma City, in particular, saw the largest gaps between the median age of newcomers and that of the existing population.
Career opportunities and affordable housing are major drivers of migration, and data from Niche’s Neighborhood Grades suggests that these CBSAs attract newcomers due to their strong performance in both areas. All of the analyzed CBSAs had better "Jobs" and "Housing" grades compared to the regions from which people migrated. For example, Austin, Texas received the highest "Jobs" rating with an A-, while most new arrivals came from areas where the "Jobs" grade was a B.
While the other analyzed CBSAs showed smaller improvements in job ratings, the combination of improvements in both “Jobs” and “Housing” make them appealing destinations for those seeking better economic opportunities and affordability.
Young professionals may be more open than ever to living in smaller metro areas, offering opportunities for cities like Austin and Raleigh to thrive. And the demographic analysis of newcomers to these CBSAs underscores their appeal to individuals seeking job opportunities and upward mobility.
Will these CBSAs continue to attract newcomers and cement their status as vibrant, opportunity-rich hubs for young professionals? And how will this new mix of population impact these growing markets?
Visit Placer.ai to keep up with the latest data-driven civic news.
Convenience stores, or c-stores, have been one of the more exciting retail categories to watch over the past few years. The segment has undergone significant shifts, embracing more diverse offerings like fresh food and expanded dining options, while also exploring new markets and adapting to changing consumer needs. We looked at the recent foot traffic data to see what this category's successes reveal about the current state of brick-and-mortar retail.
Convenience stores are increasingly viewed not only as places to fuel up, but as affordable destinations for quick meals, snacks, and other necessities. And analyzing monthly visits to the category shows that it is continuing to benefit from its positioning as a stop for food, fuel, and in some cases, tourism.
Despite lapping a strong H1 2023, visits to the category either exceeded last year’s levels or held steady during all but one of the first eight months of 2024 – highlighting the segment’s ongoing strength. Only in January 2024 did C-stores see a slight YoY dip, likely reflecting a weather-induced exaggeration of the segment’s normal seasonality.
Indeed, examining monthly fluctuations in visits to c-stores (compared to a January 2021 baseline) shows that foot traffic to the category tends to peak in summer months – perhaps driven by summer road trips and vacations – and slow down significantly in winter. Given summer’s importance for convenience stores, the category’s August YoY visit bump is a particularly promising indication of c-stores’ robust positioning this year.
While some C-store chains, like 7-Eleven, have a nationwide presence, others are concentrated in specific areas of the country. But as the popularity of C-stores continues to grow, regional chains like Wawa, Buc-ee’s, and Sheetz are expanding into new territories, broadening their reach.
Wawa, a beloved brand with roots in Pennsylvania, has become synonymous with its fresh sandwiches, coffee, and a highly loyal customer base. Wawa has been a major player in the c-store space in recent years, with a revamped menu driving ever-stronger foot traffic to its Mid-Atlantic region stores. Between January and August 2024, YoY visits to the chain were mostly elevated. And the chain is now venturing into states like Florida – where its store count has grown significantly over the past few years – as well as Georgia and Alabama.
Meanwhile, Texas favorite Buc-ee’s, though known for its enormous stores and mind boggling array of dining options, has a relatively small footprint – but that might be changing. The chain, which also outpaced its already-strong 2023 performance this year, is opening locations in Arkansas and North Carolina, further building on its reputation as a destination for travelers. And Sheetz, another regional chain with a strong presence in Pennsylvania, is also expanding, with plans to open locations in Southern states like North Carolina and Tennessee.
This trend toward regional expansion offers significant opportunities for growth, not only by increasing store count, but also by reaching new consumer bases and target audiences. Customer behavior differs between markets – and by expanding into new areas, c-stores can tap into unique local visitation patterns.
One metric that highlights local differences in consumer behavior is dwell time, or the amount of time a customer spends inside a convenience store per visit. In some regions, visitors tend to move in and out quickly, while in others, customers linger for longer periods of time.
Analyzing convenience store dwell times by state highlights substantial differences in visitor behavior. During the first eight months of 2024, coastal states (with the exception of Oregon) tended to see shorter average dwell times (between 7.5 and 11.8 minutes). On the other hand, in states like Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota, average dwell times ranged between 21.2 and 28.2 minutes.
Interestingly, the states with the longest dwell times also have some of the highest percentages of truck traffic on interstate highways – suggesting that these longer stops are perhaps made by long-haul truckers looking for a place to shower, relax, and grab a bite to eat.
Even as regional favorites expand their reach, nationwide classic 7-Eleven is taking steps to further cement its growing role as a prime grab-and-go food and beverage destination. And like other dining destinations, the chain relies on limited-time offers (LTOs) to fuel excitement – and visits.
One of the most iconic, and beloved c-store LTOs is 7-Eleven’s Slurpee Day, which falls each year on July 11th. The event, during which all 7-Eleven locations hand out free slurpees, tends to drive significant upticks in foot traffic – and this year was no exception. Visits to the convenience store jumped by a whopping 127.3% on July 11th, 2024 relative to the YTD daily visit average – proving that good deals will bring customers in the door.
The convenience store sector continues building on the impressive growth seen in 2023. As many chains double down on expanding both their regional presence and their offerings, will they continue to drive growth in the coming years?
Visit Placer.ai to keep up with the latest data-driven convenience store updates.
