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Chipotle and McDonald’s are two major players in the fast-casual and quick-service dining scene. With the year's first half behind us, we take a look at how foot traffic to these dining giants performed – and what might lie ahead in the second half of the year.
The wider retail and dining world continues to work through the challenges of inflation and new tariff concerns. But McDonald is focusing on its future, with major expansion plans and menu changes in the works. The chain is bringing back fan favorites, introducing new products, and debuting a new beverage line inspired by its now-defunct CosMc chain.
And the data suggests that these changes are helping drive visits, with the chain outperforming the wider QSR segment in Q2 2025. With the chain continuing its menu innovations in H2 2025 and a major expansion on the horizon, the positive Q2 2025 trends may signal a strong H2 ahead.
McDonald's expansion strategy is ambitious, with plans to open 900 locations around the country by 2027. Where should the chain open these new restaurants to ensure they meet a ready demand?
Diving into YoY same-store visits by state in H1 2025 reveals that much of McDonald's same-store visit increases were concentrated in the western United States, with the Southwest standing out as a particularly strong locus of growth. Nevada, Utah, and Arizona in particular saw YoY same-store visit growths of 4.9%, 4.2%, and 3.4%, respectively – suggesting that diners in these states may be particularly receptive to new McDonald's restaurants.
Chipotle has been a dining powerhouse over the past few years, consistently expanding its presence while maintaining visit growth. Indeed, visits to the chain increased 0.7% YoY in Q2 2025, slightly outpacing the 0.5% increase in visits for the wider fast casual segment.
Meanwhile, visits per location trends tell a slightly different story – the average number of visits per venue fell in Q2 '25 even as visits per venue remained flat in the wider fast casual segment. Some of the dip is likely due to lapping the successful Chicken al Pastor launch and to the Easter calendar shift, which made for a difficult comparison. But the dip had narrowed to just -1.5% by June 2025, suggesting that the chain may be seeing the impacts of its latest menu additions.
But even as Chipotle's visits per location trends trail slightly behind the wider fast casual segment, the chain's overall visit growth has helped capture a growing share of fast-casual visits in recent years despite the rising competition in the segment. In Q2 2025, more than a quarter (26.0%) of fast casual visits went to the fast casual giant – a significant increase from its 20.3% relative visit share in Q1 2019.
And the chain has no plans of slowing, with a goal of opening between 315 and 345 new restaurants in 2025 – setting Chipotle up for continued growth within the dining sector.
Chipotle and McDonald’s continue to drive visit growth even as the wider dining space experiences challenges.
Will visits grow further in H2, or will economic headwinds slow down these upward trends?
Visit Placer.ai/anchor for the latest data-driven dining insights.
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Following years of volatility and multiple bankruptcies filings, JOANN – the 82-year-old fabric and craft retailer – shuttered its final stores in May 2025, with many stores already closing in April 2025. But diving into traffic trends for some of JOANN's competitors suggest that JOANN's bankruptcy and ultimate closure was not necessarily the result of lowered demand for crafting supplies.
Year-over-year (YoY) visit trends to JOANN stores were mostly stable prior to the closure announcements, and traffic skyrocketed as consumers descended on the bargain-priced fabrics and sewing supplies during the chain's liquidation sales. And since the closures, visits to other crafting retailers has skyrocketed, with traffic to Michael's – JOANN's main competitor that even bought chain's intellectual property – up 9.2% YoY in June 2025.
JOANN is not the only hobby and crafts chain to go bankrupt over the past twelve months – Party City, which had filed for bankruptcy in 2023, also shut its last remaining stores in February 2025. And though Party City's main focus may have been party supplies, the retailer also carried an assortment of arts and crafts supplies. This means that in H1 2025 two craft-forward legacy retailers permanently shut down.
So what brought JOANN and Party City down? While several factors contributed, one significant challenge faced by both companies was their size. Although JOANN had a loyal following in some circles, the retailer's brick-and-mortar footprint was relatively moderate – in 2024, JOANN received less than half as many visits as Michaels, due in part to its significantly smaller store fleet. Party City was even smaller, receiving less than half the visits going to Hobby Lobby last year.
This means that Party City and JOANN likely lacked the economies of scale and marketing dominance of the Hobby Lobby and Michaels – making it harder to stay afloat in an increasingly competitive market. And Party City and JOANN's mid-size brick-and-mortar footprint likely also made it more difficult to compete with mass merchants such as Walmart and Target.
But if the market consolidation forces of recent years drove JOANN and Party City out of business – what to make of the endurance of tiny Blick and its 0.3% visit share? The answer to that may lie in another trend. The bifurcation of consumer spending since COVID has sustained demand for premium, quality brands and products alongside significant growth for value-oriented retail chains. And looking at the trade area median household income for the five analyzed chains highlights Blick's affluent visitor base – and suggests that the chain has successfully positioned itself as a premium purveyor of quality arts supply.
This in turn allows Blick to operate in a wholly different field where it is not competing directly with the Hobby Lobbies (or Walmarts) of the world. Instead, it has carved out a defensible niche where the defining competitive metric isn't price, but the quality and curation of its products.
The divergent paths of JOANN and its competitors highlight the new realities of the craft retail market, where operating without the scale of a Michaels or the premium, defensible niche of a Blick can create a significant liability.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Retail media networks – advertising platforms enabling third parties to promote products and services on a retailer’s websites, digital apps, brick-and-mortar stores, or across partners’ digital properties – have firmly entered the mainstream. Major chains across industries now allow sellers direct access to consumers at the critical point of purchase. And since most shopping still takes place offline, retailers are increasingly expanding their in-store retail media offerings – through digital signage, in-store audio, sampling stations, and in-app features that appear when a customer is physically in the store.
But what do location analytics tell us about the relationship between online and offline retail in 2025 – and the potential role of brick-and-mortar retail media in driving consumer engagement? We dove into the data to find out.
A closer look at several chains that are heavily investing in brick-and-mortar retail media reveals how the in-store / online mix varies by both retailer and season. Unsurprisingly, Kroger’s unique physical visitors outpaced unique website visitors (desktop and mobile) during every quarter. In contrast, The Home Depot’s in-store visitors were closer to its online traffic – occasionally dropping below it in Q1 2025. Target, Lowe’s, and Walmart fell somewhere in between these two extremes.
Interestingly, all chains analyzed attracted more physical visitors in the spring and summer (Q2 and Q3) than in the fall and winter. For both retail media networks and their advertising partners, understanding the interplay between online and offline traffic is crucial for optimizing advertising strategies.
Walmart has emerged as a leader in brick-and-mortar retail media. Through Walmart Connect, the company provides partners with a variety of in-store advertising solutions, including digital screens, in-store radio, on-site demos, and sponsored events at Walmart locations. And non-endemic brands – ranging from restaurants to financial services – can also tap into both Walmart’s online and offline retail media networks.
And foot traffic data shows that the ratio of online to offline Walmart visitors differs greatly throughout the country. In the South Central region, including Texas, Walmart’s physical stores saw 85.0% more unique visitors in May 2025 than its website. But in the Northeast, the gap narrowed to just 8.4%. So advertisers may find cost-effective opportunities by tailoring campaigns to regional traffic tendencies.
The relative size of Walmart’s state-wide markets also varies by channel. In May 2025, Texas accounted for 10.2% of Walmart’s unique in-store visitors, making it the top regional brick-and-mortar market. Yet online, California took the lead at 12.1% of total website visitors. So advertisers aiming for the biggest in-store crowd might choose Texas, while those focused on digital reach could invest more in California. Florida, meanwhile, remained the third-largest market for both online and offline traffic, grabbing about 7.0% of each.
Though offline shopping continues to dominate, the numbers show that neither channel exists in a vacuum. And given how shopper preferences differ by region and season, brands that harness both online and offline data can craft more relevant, impactful campaigns.
For more data-driven retail and advertising analysis follow Placer.ai/anchor.
The grocery segment has never been more competitive, and Aldi, Trader Joe’s, and Lidl have consistently emerged as top players. The three chains share similarities: all offer a limited assortment of groceries and tend to operate at lower price points – however, each one is carving out its own distinct path to growth.
We take a closer look at their performance in H1 2025 to uncover what might be contributing to their continued success.
Aldi, Trader Joe’s, and Lidl have established themselves as formidable players in the grocery segment, consistently thriving despite a challenging market. And diving into H1 2025 underscores their impressive success.
The three grocery chains enjoyed consistently elevated visits in H1 2025, significantly outpacing the wider grocery segment. While overall grocery visits increased by 1.8% YoY, Aldi’s visits grew by 7.1%, Trader Joe’s by 11.9%, and Lidl posted growth of 4.9% during the analyzed period. The three chains also outpaced the wider industry in terms of average visit per location growth.
This strong H1 performance is extra impressive given how well the three chains have performed in recent years. And diving into individual metrics for each chain can further show how they are thriving – and what might lie behind their success.
Trader Joe’s, known for its whimsical and community-centric approach to grocery shopping, got its start in Pasadena, California. Since then, the chain has expanded to nearly 600 locations across the country – but California remains its most significant market. The company operates over 200 locations in the Golden State alone and recently announced plans to expand its footprint within its largest market.
Examining the visitor share among California’s top grocery chains, including major players like Safeway, Ralphs, and VONS, highlights just how well Trader Joe’s is performing in the state. While these chains maintained relatively stable visit shares over the past few years, Trader Joe’s saw its relative visit share grow from 13.2% in H1 2019 to 15.7% in H1 2025. This success underscores the value of investing in product and community – two areas where Trader Joe’s excels.
Aldi, the German grocery giant, derives much of its success from its impressive operational prowess. The chain is laser-focused on maximizing efficiency and streamlining operations in a bid to keep overhead low and customers coming through its doors. And its efforts seem to be paying off – the chain is one of the fastest-growing grocery chains in the nation. Over the past few years, Aldi has opened new stores at a rapid pace, acquiring smaller chains in pursuit of its goal of opening an additional 800 stores by 2028.
And crucially, even as Aldi expands its footprint, the chain continues to draw more average visits per location. Average visits per location were 1.6% higher than they were in 2024, 17.4% higher than in 2023, and 26.7% higher than in 2022. This signals that its new stores are being met by sustained and growing shopper interest instead of cannibalizing foot traffic from existing locations.
This model allows Aldi to grow its footprint and customer base simultaneously and demonstrates an impressive capacity to meet – and create – continued demand for its offerings.
Like Aldi, Lidl emigrated to the United States from Germany – and the chain offers a similar promise of limited-assortment products and lower prices. Diving into visitor demographics at the chain highlights where Lidl shines – and where it has room to grow. Between 2019 and 2025, the chain grew its share of suburban, wealthy, and older segments – but the share of visitors falling into the “Singles and Starters” demographic segment shrunk.
Lidl has been adding new stores in recent months, and while it has certainly leaned into its thriving suburban segment, new locations are also appearing in major cities. This push beyond its established wealthy, suburban roots suggests Lidl may be looking to broaden its appeal to a more diverse urban consumer base.
Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Lidl continue to thrive despite a challenging retail environment – and while all chains are known for their great deals, the different price points, audiences, and focuses underscore that their success is rooted in strategies beyond their value propositions.
Will these chains continue to drive increased foot traffic in H2 2025? Visit Placer.ai/anchor for the latest data-driven grocery insights.
Summer often brings out the latest fashion trends as consumers head for coastal cities, the beach, summer vacations, and the pool. Sometimes we see new trends catch fire altogether, but summer also tends to signal to shoppers that it’s time to revitalize classic products or items already in their closets in new ways.
L.L.Bean, the outdoor lifestyle retailer and brand, has always been at the center of repeat trends. Its New England heritage lends itself to fashion moments centered around preppy or Americana dressing, and its staple products like the L.L.Bean Boot and Boat and Tote have become longstanding favorites.
Over the past few years, the Boat and Tote product specifically has had its own renaissance as consumers once again flocked to this classic style. Another trend that we can thank TikTok for, the bag became a viral sensation in 2022 as creators would embroider ironic sayings onto their bags instead of the traditional monogram offered. This year appears to be a reinvigoration of this trend, and with new inspirations coming into the fold, such as the “Boatkin”, there is plenty of runway left for the Boat & Tote to keep L.L.Bean top of mind for shoppers. The Boat & Tote also reflects the change in consumer behavior over the last few years relating to branded products and logos – consumers are opting for more subtle designs without logos that can be used for everyday activities.
L.L.Bean retail locations have certainly benefited from the virality of the Boat & Tote. Looking at 2025 traffic performance year-to-date, visits are up almost 15% compared to 2024. Against the backdrop of challenging traffic for many retail chains, this number is even more impressive.
L.L.Bean stores also fit the mold of the current formula that is working in retail – large format stores that offer a wide variety of experiences, assortments, and services that keep customers engaged for longer, with the average dwell time at 32 minutes. Related to the renaissance of the Boat and Tote in 2025, L.L.Bean stores recently added a bag charm bar to locations for consumers to adorn their bags in unique ways, leaning into current trends being seen across the accessories category. Concepts like the charm bar could make the difference in consumers choosing to shop in store instead of simply ordering online.
L.L.Bean’s focus on its iconic products despite the change in trends over time has served the brand in attracting new shoppers with each passing generation. The chain attracts visitors across suburban and rural families, Young Professionals as well as Sunset Boomers. Different generations of consumers have all found their way to L.L.Bean retail locations for different reasons, but the core products that remain have outlasted other trends.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Office supplies behemoth Staples has faced a challenging few years, contending with stiff competition from online rivals and evolving office visit trends that have reduced demand for some of its core products. Consumer cutbacks in discretionary spending driven by recent inflationary pressures have also taken their toll on the retailer, which has closed dozens of stores over the past several years.
But by remaining agile and pivoting towards services and B2B offerings, Staples has defied expectations – showing how retailers can succeed by staying in tune with shifting consumer needs and habits. We dove into the data to explore Staples’ recent visit growth and some of the factors behind its current success.
Last month, Staples brought back its iconic “That Was Easy!” button, highlighting the chain’s mission to simplify customers’ lives through products and solutions. But though Staples’ impressive traffic resurgence might appear to have been effortless, its current growth is the result of a carefully orchestrated pivot towards meeting the practical demands of shoppers in 2025.
In addition to its staple (pun intended) office and school supplies, Staples is ramping up its business-focused services. The chain recently began a pilot with Verizon to expand its tech offerings – with the explicit purpose of offering the telecom giant access to more small business visitors. The company has also expanded its onsite services, offering everything from print-while-you-wait to travel-related options like passport photos.
And a look at Staples’ foot traffic over the past several months shows these efforts are paying off. Since January 2025, visits and average visits per location to Staples have been consistently elevated year over year (YoY), with the sole exception of February, when retailers across categories were impacted by stormy weather and the comparison to a leap year. And as the year has worn on, Staples’ visitation trends have only gotten stronger, with June seeing a 10.3% increase in overall foot traffic and a 13.2% increase in average visits per location compared to 2024.
Despite the challenges of the past several years – and the closure of dozens of stores since 2019 – Staples’ foot traffic is also now higher than it was pre-COVID. In Q2 2025, overall visits to the chain exceeded Q2 2019 levels by 5.6%. And each open store is seeing far more foot traffic than it did before the pandemic, with average visits per location rising by 23.9% over the same period.
Location analytics reinforce the notion that it is Staples’ pivot to services and B2B solutions that is largely fueling this comeback.
August, for example, has traditionally been Staples’ busiest month of the year, as students and families descend on the chain to stock up on back-to-school supplies. But in recent years, the month has become less of an outlier, with traffic spread more evenly across the calendar.
Moreover, the number of frequent visitors to Staples – i.e. those who return to the chain multiple times per month – has grown steadily since 2019. Between H1 2019 and H1 2025, the share of customers visiting Staples at least twice a month on average edged up from 12.0% to 12.8%, and the proportion of those making three or more monthly visits climbed from 3.5% to 4.9%. This shift points to a consumer base increasingly reliant on Staples for ongoing needs rather than episodic purchases.
Staples’ recent visit success sheds light on the power of pivoting to meet shifting consumer demands. By emphasizing services and leaning into B2B offerings, Staples has transformed itself into a go-to destination for new audiences – reinforcing the importance of adaptability and innovation in retail.
For more data-driven retail analyses, visit Placer.ai/anchor.
This report includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.0, which implements improvements to our extrapolation capabilities, adds short visit monitoring, and enhances visit detection.
Grabbing a coffee or snack at a convenience store is a time-honored road trip tradition – but increasingly, Convenience Stores (C-Stores) have also emerged as places people go out of their way to visit.
Convenience stores have thrived in recent years, making inroads into the discretionary dining space and growing both their audiences and their sales. Between April 2023 and March 2024, C-Stores experienced consistent year-over-year (YoY) visit growth, generally outperforming Overall Retail. Unsurprisingly, C-Stores fell behind Overall Retail in November and December 2023, when holiday shoppers flocked to malls and superstores to buy gifts for loved ones. But in January 2024, the segment regained its lead, growing YoY visits even as Overall Retail languished in the face of an Arctic blast that had many consumers hunkering down at home.
C-Stores’ current strength is partially due to the significant innovation by leading players in the space: Chains like Casey’s, Maverik, Buc-ee’s, and Rutter’s are investing in both in their product offerings and in their physical venues to transform the humble C-Store from a stop along the way into a bona fide destination. Dive into the data to explore some of the key strategies helping C-Stores drive consumer engagement and stay ahead of the pack.
While chain expansion may explain some of the C-Store segment growth, a look at visit-per-location trends shows that demand is growing at the store level as well. Over the past year (April 2023 to March 2024), average visits per location on an industry-wide basis grew by 1.8%, compared to the year prior (April 2022 to 2023).
And within this growing segment, some brands are distinguishing themselves and outperforming category averages. Casey’s, for example, saw the average number of visits to each of its locations increase by 2.3% over the same time frame – while Maverik, Buc-ee’s and Rutter’s saw visits per location increase by 3.2%, 3.4% and 3.9%, respectively.
Each in its own way, Casey’s, Maverik, Buc-ee’s, and Rutter’s, are helping to transform C-Stores from pit stops where people can stretch their legs and grab a cup of coffee to destinations in and of themselves.
Midwestern gas and c-store chain Casey’s – famous for its breakfast pizza and other grab-and-go breakfast items – has emerged as a prime spot for fast food pizza lovers to grab a slice first thing in the morning. And Salt Lake City, Utah-based Maverik – which recently acquired Kum & Go and its 400-plus stores – is also establishing itself as a breakfast destination thanks to its specialty burritos and other chef-inspired creations.
Casey’s and Maverik’s popular breakfast options are likely helping the chains receive its larger-than-average share of morning visits: In Q1 2024, 16.3% of visits to Maverik and 17.5% of visits to Casey’s took place during the 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM daypart, compared to just 14.9% of visits to the wider C-Store category.
Psychographic data from the Spatial.ai’s FollowGraph dataset – which looks at the social media activity of a given audience – also suggests that Casey’s and Maverik’s have opened stores in locations that allow them to reach their target audience. Compared to the average consumer, residents of Casey’s potential market are 7% more likely to be “Fast Food Pizza Lovers” than both the average consumer and the average C-Store trade area resident. Residents of Maverik’s potential market are 16% more likely than the average consumer to be “Mexican Food Enthusiasts,” compared to residents of the average C-Store’s trade area who are only 1% more likely to fall into that category.
With both chains expanding, Casey’s and Maverik can hope to introduce new audiences to their unique breakfast options and solidify their hold over the morning daypart within the C-Store space over the next few years.
Everything is said to be bigger in the Lone Star State, and Texas-based convenience store chain Buc-ee’s – holder of the record for the worlds’ largest C-Store – is no exception. With a unique array of specialty food items and award-winning bathrooms, Buc-ee’s has emerged as a well-known tourist attraction. And the popular chain’s status as a visitor hotspot is reflected in two key metrics.
First, Buc-ee’s attracts a much greater share of weekend visits than other convenience store chains. In Q1 2024, 39.6% of visits to Buc-ee’s took place on the weekends, compared to just 28.3% for the wider C-Store industry. And second, Buc-ee’s captured markets feature higher-than-average shares of family-centric households – including those belonging to Experian: Mosaic’s Suburban Style, Flourishing Families, and Promising Families segments.
Rather than merely a place to stop on the way to work, Buc-ee’s has emerged as a favored destination for families and for people looking for something fun to do on their days off.
Buc-ee’s isn’t the only C-Store chain that believes bigger is better. Pennsylvania-based Rutter’s is increasing visits and customer dwell time by expanding its footprint – both in terms of store count and venue size. New stores will be 10,000 to 12,000 square feet – significantly larger than the industry average of around 3,100 square feet. And in more urban areas, where space is at a premium, the company is building upwards.
Rutter’s added a second floor to one of its existing locations in York, PA in December 2023. The remodel, which was met with enthusiasm by customers, provided additional seating for up to 30 diners, a beer cave, and an expanded wine selection. And in Q1 2024, the location experienced 15.6% YoY visit growth – compared to a chainwide average of 7.6%. Visitors to the newly remodeled Rutter’s also stayed significantly longer than they did pre-renovation. The share of extended visits to the store (longer than ten minutes) grew from 20.8% in Q1 2023 to 27.0% in Q1 2024 – likely from people browsing the chain’s selection of beers or grabbing a bite to eat.
Convenience stores are flourishing, transforming into some of the most exciting dining and tourist destinations in the country. Today, C-Store customers can expect to find brisket sandwiches, gourmet coffees, or craft beers, rather than the stale cups of coffee of old. And the data shows that customers are receptive to these innovations, helping drive the segment’s success.
The first quarter of 2024 was generally a good one for retailers. Though unusually cold and stormy weather left its mark on the sector’s January performance, February and March saw steady year-over-year (YoY) weekly visit growth that grew more robust as the quarter wore on.
March ended on a high note, with the week of March 25th – including Easter Sunday – seeing a 6.1% YoY visit boost, driven in part by increased retail activity in the run-up to the holiday. (Last year, Easter fell on April 9th, 2023, so the week of March 25th is being compared to a regular week.)
Though prices remain high and consumer confidence has yet to fully regain its footing, retail’s healthy Q1 showing may be a sign of good things to come in 2024.
Drilling down into the data for leading retail segments demonstrates the continued success of value-priced, essential, and wellness-related categories.
Discount & Dollar Stores led the pack with 11.2% YoY quarterly visit growth, followed by Grocery Stores, Fitness, and Superstores – all of which outperformed Overall Retail. Dining also enjoyed a YoY quarterly visit bump, despite the segment’s largely discretionary nature. And despite the high interest rates continuing to weigh on the housing and home renovation markets, Home Improvement & Furnishings maintained just a minor YoY visit gap.
Discount & Dollar Stores experienced strong YoY visit growth throughout most of Q1 – and as go-to destinations for groceries and other other essential goods, they held their own even during mid-January’s Arctic blast. In the last week of March, shoppers flocked to leading discount chains for everything from chocolate Easter bunnies to basket-making supplies – driving a remarkable 21.5% YoY visit spike.
Dollar General continued to dominate the Discount & Dollar Store space in Q1, with visits to its locations accounting for nearly half of the segment’s quarterly foot traffic (44.7%). Next in line was Dollar Tree, followed by Family Dollar and Five Below. Together, the four chains – all of which experienced positive YoY quarterly visit growth – drew a whopping 91.6% of quarterly visits to the category.
Rain or shine, people have to eat. And like Discount & Dollar Stores, traditional Grocery Stores were relatively busy through January as shoppers braved the storms to stock up on needed items. Momentum continued to build throughout the quarter, culminating in a 10.5% foot traffic increase in the week ending with Easter Sunday.
Like in other categories, it was budget-friendly Grocery banners that took the lead. No-frills Aldi drove a chain-wide 24.4% foot traffic increase in Q1, by expanding its fleet – while also growing the average number of visits per location. Other value-oriented chains, including Trader Joe’s and Food Lion, experienced significant foot traffic increases of their own. And though conventional grocery leaders like H-E-B, Kroger, and Albertsons saw smaller visit bumps, they too outperformed Q1 2023 by meaningful margins.
January is New Year’s resolution season – when people famously pick themselves up off the couch, dust off their trainers, and vow to go to the gym more often. And with wellness still top of mind for many consumers, the Fitness category enjoyed robust YoY visit growth throughout most of Q1 – despite lapping a strong Q1 2023.
Predictably, Fitness’s visit growth slowed during the last week of March, when many Americans likely indulged in Easter treats rather than work out. But given the category’s strength over the past several years, there is every reason to believe it will continue to flourish.
For Fitness chains, too, cost was key to success in Q1 – with value gyms experiencing the biggest visit jumps. EōS Fitness and Crunch Fitness, both of which offer low-cost membership options, saw their Q1 visits skyrocket 28.9% and 22.0% YoY, respectively – helped in part by aggressive expansions. At the same time, premium and mid-range gyms like Life Time and LA Fitness are also finding success – showing that when it comes to Fitness, there’s plenty of room for a variety of models to thrive.
Superstores – including wholesale clubs – are prime destinations for big, planned shopping expeditions – during which customers can load up on a month’s supply of food items or stock up on home goods. And perhaps for this reason, the category felt the impact of January’s inclement weather more than either dollar chains or supermarkets – which are more likely to see shoppers pop in as needed for daily essentials.
But like Grocery Stores and Discount & Dollar Stores, Superstores ended the quarter with an impressive YoY visit spike, likely fueled by Easter holiday shoppers.
As in Q4 2023, membership warehouse chains – Costco Wholesale, BJ’s Wholesale Club, and Sam’s Club – drove much of the Superstore category’s positive visit growth, as shoppers likely engaged in mission-driven shopping in an effort to stretch their budgets. Still, segment mainstays Walmart and Target also enjoyed positive foot traffic growth, with YoY visits up 3.9% and 3.5%, respectively.
Moving into more discretionary territory, Dining experienced a marked January slump, as hunkered-down consumers likely opted for delivery. But the segment rallied in February and March, even though foot traffic dipped slightly during the last week of March, when many families gathered to enjoy home-cooked holiday meals.
Coffee Chains and Fast-Casual Restaurants saw the largest YoY visit increases, followed by QSR – highlighting the enduring power of lower-cost, quick-serve dining options. But Full-Service Restaurants (FSR) also saw a slight segment-wide YoY visit uptick in Q1 – good news for a sector that has yet to bounce back from the one-two punch of COVID and inflation. Within each Dining category, however, some chains experienced outsize visit growth – including favorites like Dutch Bros. Coffee, Slim Chickens, In-N-Out Burger, and Texas Roadhouse.
Since the shelter-in-place days of COVID – when everybody had their sourdough starter and DIY was all the rage – Home Improvement & Furnishings chains have faced a tough environment. Many deferred or abandoned home improvement projects in the wake of inflation, and elevated interest rates coupled with a sluggish housing market put a further damper on the category.
Against this backdrop, Home Improvement & Furnishings’ relatively lackluster Q1 visit performance should come as no surprise. But the narrowing of the visit gap in March – which also saw one week of positive visit growth – may serve as a promising sign for the segment. (The abrupt foot traffic drop during the week of March 25th, 2024 is likely a just reflection of Easter holiday shopping pattern.)
Within the Home Improvement & Furnishings space, some bright spots stood out in Q1 – including Harbor Freight Tools, which saw visits increase by 10.0%, partly due to the brand’s growing store count. Tractor Supply Co., Menards, and Ace Hardware also registered visit increases.
January 2024’s stormy weather left its mark on the Q1 retail environment, especially for discretionary categories. But as the quarter progressed, retailers rallied, with healthy YoY foot traffic growth that peaked during the last week of March – the week of Easter Sunday. All in all, retail’s positive Q1 performance leaves plenty of room for optimism about what’s in store for the rest of 2024.
This report includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.0, which implements improvements to our extrapolation capabilities, adds short visit monitoring, and enhances visit detection.
Over the past year, Fast-Casual & Quick-Service Restaurant (QSR) chains have thrived, consistently outperforming the Full-Service Dining segment with positive year-over-year (YoY) visit growth every quarter since 2023. In this white paper, we dive into the data for leading dining chains to take a closer look at what’s driving visitors to the QSR segment and what other dining categories can learn from fast-food’s success.
One of the key factors separating QSR chains – aptly known as “fast food” – from the rest of the dining industry is the speed at which diners can get a ready-to-eat meal in their hands. And within the QSR space, speed of service is one of the ways chains differentiate themselves from their competition.
Leading fast-food chains are investing heavily in technologies and systems designed to help them serve customers ever more quickly:
Taco Bell’s “Touch Display Kitchen System” is designed to optimize cooking operations and improve wait times, while the chain’s Go Mobile restaurant format seeks to alleviate bottlenecks in the drive-thru lane. Chick-fil-A also has dedicated channels for quick mobile order pick-up and is planning four-lane drive-thrus with second-floor kitchens to get meals out even faster. And to save time at the drive-thru, Wendy’s is experimenting with generative AI and developing an underground, robotic system to deliver digital orders to designated parking spots within seconds.
And location intelligence shows that all three chains are succeeding in reducing customer wait times. Over the past four years, Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A, and Wendy’s have seen steady increases in the share of visits to their venues lasting less than 10 minutes.
The data also suggests that investment in speed of service can increase overall visitation to QSR venues.
In late 2022, McDonald’s opened a to-go-only location outside of Dallas, TX with a lane dedicated to mobile order fulfillment via a conveyor belt. And in Q1 2024, this venue not only had a larger share of short visits compared to the other McDonald’s locations in the region, but also more visits compared to the McDonald’s average visits per venue in the Dallas-Fort Worth CBSA.
This provides further support for the power of fast order fulfillment to drive QSR visits, with customers motivated by the prospect of getting in and out quickly.
The success of the fast-food segment is even driving other restaurants to borrow typical QSR formats – especially during time slots when people are most likely to grab a bite to eat on the go.
In September 2023, full-service leader Applebee’s opened a new format: a fast casual location focusing on To Go orders in Deer Park, NY, featuring pick-up lockers for digital orders and limited dine-in options without table service.
And the new format is already attracting outsized weekday and lunchtime crowds. In Q1 2024, 20.5% of visits to the chain’s To Go venue took place during the 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM time slot, while the average Applebee’s in the New York-Newark-Jersey City CBSA received less than 10% of its daily visits during that daypart. The new restaurant also drew a significantly higher share of weekday visits than other nearby venues.
This suggests that takeaway-focused venues could help full-service chains grow their visit share during weekdays and the coveted lunch rush, when consumers may be less inclined to have a sit-down meal.
An additional factor contributing to QSR and Fast Casual success in 2024 may be the rise of chicken-based chains. Chicken is a versatile ingredient that has remained relatively affordable, which could be contributing to its growing popularity and the rapid expansion of several chicken chains.
Comparing the relative visit share (not including delivery) of various sub-segments within the wider Fast Casual & QSR space showed that the share of visits to chains with chicken-based menus has increased steadily between 2019 and 2023: In Q1 2024, 15.3% of Fast Casual & QSR visits were to a chicken restaurant concept, compared to just 13.4% in Q1 2019.
The strength of chicken-based concepts is also evident when comparing average visits per venue at leading chicken chains with the wider Fast Casual & QSR average.
Both Chick-fil-A, the nation’s predominant chicken chain, and Raising Cane’s, a rapidly expanding player in the fast-food chicken space, are receiving significantly more visits per venue than their Fast Casual & QSR peers: In Q1 2024, Raising Cane’s and Chick-fil-A restaurants saw an average of 153.0% and 237.7% more visits per venue, respectively, compared to the combined Fast Casual & QSR industries average.
The elevated traffic at chicken chains likely plays a part in their profitability per restaurant relative to other Fast Casual & QSR concepts with more sizable fleets.
QSR and Fast-Casual chains are also particularly adept at generating seasonal visit spikes through unique Limited Time Offers and holiday promotions adapted to the calendar.
Arby’s recently launched a 2 for $6 sandwich promotion on February 1st, with two of the three sandwich options on promotion being fish-based in an apparent attempt to entice diners eschewing meat in observance of Lent. The company also brought back a specialty fish sandwich, likely with the goal of further appealing to the Lent-observing demographic.
The offers seem to have driven significant traffic spikes, with foot traffic during the promotion period significantly higher than the January daily visit average. And traffic was particularly elevated during Lent – which this year fell on Wednesday, February 14th through Thursday, March 28th, with visits spiking on Fridays when those observing are most likely to seek out fish-based meals.
Some of the elevated visits in the second half of Q1 may be attributed to the comparison to a weaker January across the dining segment. But the success of the fish-forward promotion specifically during Lent suggests that the company’s calendar-appropriate LTO played a major role in driving visits to the chain.
Shorter-term promotions – even those lasting just a single day – can also drive major visit spikes.
Since 1991, White Castle has transformed its fast-food restaurants into a reservation-only, “fine-dining” experience for dinner on Valentine's Day. In 2024, Valentine’s Day fell on a Wednesday, and White Castle’s sit-down event drove a 11.8% visit increase relative to the average Wednesday in Q1 2024 and a 3.9% visit increase compared to the overall Q1 2024 daily average.
The elevated visit numbers over Valentine’s Day are even more impressive when considering that a full-service dining room can accommodate fewer visitors than the drive-thrus and counter service of White Castle’s typical QSR configuration. The spike in February 14th visits may also be attributed to an increased number of diners showing up throughout the day to take in the Valentine’s Day buzz.
QSR and Fast-Casual dining are having a moment. And the data shows that a combination of factors – including fast and efficient service, the rising popularity of chicken-based dining concepts, and effective LTOs – are all playing a part in the categories’ recent success.
