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Looking at the discretionary categories that outperformed this holiday season, we may be on the cusp of a new trend heading into 2025: reinvention. Our data highlights that home furnishings, beauty, and apparel were among the top-performing discretionary retail categories in terms of year-over-year visits during November and December, as shown below.
The performance of these three categories is notable for different reasons. After significant declines earlier in the year, the home furnishings category rebounded strongly. As discussed in November, this recovery was supported by strength in the housewares category and mattress retailers. Housewares retail has generally outperformed home furnishings over the past few years – a trend partly attributed to increased out-of-home entertaining. While purchasing gifts for hosts likely drive visits for some home furnishing retailers, we may now be entering a replacement cycle for many home furnishing products purchased during the pandemic, which could further support the category’s recovery. In other words, many consumers may be looking to reinvent their personal spaces starting with their homes.
The strength in beauty and apparel may reflect a broader trend of personal reinvention. What fueled this movement? It could be as simple as buying a new outfit for a holiday party or experimenting with seasonal beauty products. However, several apparel retailers we spoke to over the past few months pointed to additional factors, including health and wellness trends. 2024 saw a rise in in-person workouts (one of the strongest retail categories in year-over-year visitation), greater adoption of technology-driven fitness and wellness routines, and increased use of wellness supplements and GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro. Retailers noted that healthier lifestyles during 2024 drove increased demand for apparel this holiday season—a trend that could have substantial implications for the year ahead.
Overall food-away-from-home spending grew in 2024, driven by decelerating inflation and a robust economy that eased budgetary concerns. How did coffee chains, one of the largest discretionary food categories, perform?
We took a closer look at foot traffic to Starbucks and Dunkin’ to find out.
Despite the ongoing consumer uncertainty, 2024 visits to Starbucks and Dunkin’ remained close to 2023 levels. The traffic trends range from 2.9% down year-over-year (YoY) to 1.9% up YoY for Starbucks, and from 1.3% down to 1.9% up YoY for Dunkin’ – a testament to coffee’s enduring draw.
While the YoY visit patterns to Starbucks and Dunkin’ were relatively similar in 2024, the two chains experienced distinct visitation patterns throughout the day. During the early morning daypart (6:00 - 9:59 AM), Dunkin’ attracted 39.9% of its visitors, while Starbucks received only 29.9% of its customers before 10 AM. However, as the day transitioned into evening, Starbucks took the lead, capturing 23.7% of visitors during the 3:00 - 6:59 PM daypart, significantly higher than Dunkin’s 16.4%.
These visitation patterns highlight distinct opportunities for both chains to expand their appeal across different dayparts. Dunkin’ could offer afternoon specials to attract more visitors in the afternoon and evening daypart, and Starbucks could broaden its breakfast offerings to capture a larger share of the early morning crowd.
A closer look at Starbucks’ daily visitation patterns highlights the chain’s mastery in leveraging calendar events and special promotions to boost foot traffic. Events like Red Cup Day and buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO) deals, including on Mother’s Day, drove impressive visits bumps ranging from 28.1% to 40.4% higher than the 2024 daily visit average.
These promotions appear to have been so successful that Starbucks, under the leadership of new C.E.O. Brian Niccol, announced it would scale them back – in part to restore the chain’s “coffeehouse roots” and avoid over-crowded stores on promotion days. But even without special discounts in the last five weeks of the year, Starbucks still received major traffic spikes on key shopping days like Super Saturday and Black Friday, with visits surging 27.5% and 26.6% above the YTD daily average, respectively. This highlights the brand’s ability to drive strong performance even with fewer promotions during peak seasons.
As part of the effort to elevate the in-store experience, Starbucks has also announced plans to implement a code of conduct, with the goal of facilitating the creation of an “inviting and welcoming community coffeehouse.” One significant shift, coming into effect on January 27th, bars people from lingering in its facilities without making a purchase.
A closer look at dwell time for the chain reveals that the vast majority of visits to the chain are currently less than 10 minutes long, with mobile orders making up almost a third of total Starbucks orders. The predominance of short visits and the popularity of mobile orders indicates that many Starbucks customers likely prioritize convenience, and prefer to grab a drink to go without taking advantage of the coffeehouse amenities. But with new incentives – including a free refill policy for all customers, not just loyalty club members – dwell times may well go up over the coming months.
Starbucks and Dunkin’ continued serving coffee drinkers in 2024, despite the ongoing constraints on many consumers' discretionary spending budgets.
Will Starbucks and Dunkin’ continue to drive visits into 2025? Visit Placer.ai for the latest data-driven dining insights.
Placer.ai observes a panel of mobile devices in order to extrapolate and generate visitation insights for a variety of locations across the U.S. This panel covers only visitors from within the United States and does not represent or take into account international visitors.
The end of the year is a time of bustling activity as many Americans travel to visit family and friends, go on vacation, and enjoy recreational attractions. Using the latest location analytics for transportation hubs, hotels, museums, and aquariums, we uncover key trends in consumer behavior during the holiday season.
The end of the year was a busy travel period as consumers visited family and friends or headed out on vacation. Between December 18th and December 23rd, visits to major airports and ground transportation hubs (train and bus stations) were higher than the 2024 same-day average, with visits to both ground and air travel hubs peaking on Super Saturday (December 21st).
Visits to transportation hubs then fell on December 24th and 25th 2024 – although the drop was much more dramatic for airports than for train and bus stations – as many people stayed in place for the duration of the holiday.
Visits to transportation hubs remained slightly below the same-day yearly average on Boxing Day, December 26th, 2024 – although traffic to both airports and ground transportation hubs increased compared to the Christmas lull, as some travelers began to make their return trips. But starting on December 27th, traffic trends for the two types of transportation hubs began to diverge: visits to ground transportation hubs were above average same-day levels, whereas airport visit levels remained below average until the following day, December 28th, 2024. This could indicate that air travelers, who may spend more on transportation or travel greater distances, stay longer at their destination to make the journey worthwhile.
Although ground transportation hubs and airports experienced elevated traffic over the majority of the holiday period, the same did not appear to be the case in the hospitality space.
Between December 18th and December 29th, 2024, daily visits to almost all hotel categories – from economy to upper upscale – remained below the same-day average for 2024. The decrease in business travel during this time, coupled with the tendency for those visiting family and friends to stay with their hosts, likely accounted for this trend. Only the luxury hotel category – which doesn’t typically receive business guests – saw elevated daily visits beginning on December 22nd, 2024, likely driven by affluent holiday vacationers.
During the final days of 2024 – December 30th and 31st – all six hotel categories experienced their most robust foot traffic of the period, and most saw their visits surge above the yearly same-day average. This suggests that many consumers, traveling at various hospitality tiers, took hotel-based vacations after spending Christmas at home or at the home of a loved one.
As consumers leveraged time off in the second half of December, museums and aquariums appeared to be popular attractions.
December 23rd, 2024 saw the first visit surge of the period for museums (31.7% above the yearly same-day average) and aquariums (12.6% above the yearly same-day average), perhaps as consumers sought out activities to do with visiting guests.
Following a brief visitation lull on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, foot traffic to museums and aquariums increased again and remained elevated between December 26th through the end of the year. And both museums and aquariums saw their largest visit peaks of the period on December 30th, 2024 (106.3% and 75.2% above average, respectively), suggesting that these attractions were popular with holiday visitors and end-of-year vacationers alike.
Analysis of transportation hubs, hotels, and leisure venues reveals shifting travel patterns and consumer behaviors during the final weeks of the year. The data suggests that while ground transportation users and air travelers alike typically travel before Christmas Eve, air travelers likely prefer to spend a little extra time at their holiday destination. And although travel is an integral part of the holiday season, most hotel categories don’t see elevated visits until the last few days of the year when family affairs have concluded and vacations are in full swing. Similarly, museums and aquariums sustain elevated traffic for several days after the holiday, as consumers leverage their time off for unique experiences.
For more data-driven insights, visit Placer.ai.
About the Convention Center Index: The Placer.ai Convention Center Index analyzes foot traffic to nearly 150 major convention and conference centers across the country. It excludes resorts and stadiums.
Convention centers serve as hubs for networking, trade shows, and corporate events. But the pandemic brought in-person gatherings to a halt, with businesses pivoting to online conferences – or eschewing them altogether.
And though social-distancing and other pandemic-era restrictions have lifted, the changes in the office and business world continue to linger. With that in mind, we took a closer look at the visitation data to these centers to see how convention center traffic trends and visitor demographics have shifted since pre-pandemic.
COVID-19 profoundly disrupted in-person networking. Now, nearly five years later, its impact on business travel and corporate events still lingers as virtual and hybrid events remain popular. However, similar to the return-to-office trends Placer.ai has tracked over the past few years, convention centers are also showing signs of slow but steady recovery.
While 2024 visits to convention centers nationwide were still 11.2% lower, on average, than in pre-pandemic 2019, traffic was also 3.3% higher than in 2023 and a significant 21.3% higher than in 2022. So – while the frequency and magnitude of in-person business events are not quite back to pre-pandemic levels yet, the visit trends indicate that the convention center recovery story is still being written.
The pandemic’s impact extends beyond overall attendance numbers – diving deeper into the data also reveals shifts in when people visit convention centers. The share of weekend visits jumped from 44.5% in 2019 to 46.9% in 2022 and has remained relatively steady ever since. This suggests that convention centers may have pivoted to hosting concerts, sporting matches, and other leisure events to make up for the dip in business conferences and conventions.
Analyzing the trade areas from where convention centers draw their visits also reveals that the demographics of convention center visitors has shifted since the pandemic. The median household income (HHI) of visitors to convention centers has steadily increased each year analyzed, rising from $86.6K in 2019 to $88.4K in 2024. Similarly, visitors in 2024 were more likely to come from captured market trade areas with higher shares of the “Power Elite” segment than in 2019.
These two metrics indicate a shift in the profile of convention visitors. As virtual attendance becomes more normalized, many companies may be becoming more intentional about subsidising business travel and trade show attendance, reserving in-person events for higher-level executives, decision-makers, or industry leaders. This shift has significant implications for the industry, as convention centers may need to adapt their offerings and facilities to cater to the needs and preferences of this more specialized demographic.
The convention center space appears to be on a slow and steady recovery – and while visits may not return to their pre-pandemic highs, the share of weekend visit growth and increasing attendance of higher-profile professionals indicate that the segment is pivoting.
Will convention centers and office spaces continue to recover? Visit Placer.ai for the latest office and business foot traffic trends.
As we discussed before the 2024 holiday season began, timing was expected to play a crucial role in its success for retailers. With one less week between Thanksgiving and Christmas, retailers faced the challenge of consolidating promotions and focusing on attracting repeat visits and increasing conversion rates to match last year’s performance. But another factor influencing holiday timing is the elongation of seasonal offerings and promotions, which now extend well into October. While there’s no industry-wide standard for when the holiday season officially begins, it’s clear that many retailers recognize the value of starting their campaigns in October and early November to maximize engagement and sales.
When analyzing visitation trends throughout the holiday season, the narrative shifts depending on the time frame considered. From Black Friday through Christmas Eve, most categories experienced double-digit traffic declines compared to last year, partly due to the shorter holiday season. But focusing on the period between October and the Wednesday before Thanksgiving reveals that visitation to many categories increased by double digits compared to last year. While this time frame includes an additional week this year, it’s evident that some demand shifted into the earlier part of the holiday season.
And when looking at performance for the extended holiday season as a whole – from October 1 through Christmas Eve – year-over-year traffic performance improved across the board, with many categories actually showing growth compared to 2023.
There was particularly strong performance in discretionary categories during October and early November, including luxury department stores, beauty chains, and home furnishing retailers. These early gains provided the momentum many chains needed to help offset the impact of the shorter traditional holiday season.
The extended shopping season successfully contributed to overall traffic growth for many retail sectors and may signal that consumers are willing – and able – to start their holiday shopping earlier if the right products and promotions are available.
The beverage and alcohol (BevAlc) segment has enjoyed a strong showing over the past few years. Bar and other nightlife destinations were closed throughout the pandemic, driving foot traffic to the BevAlc retailers – a trend that has sustained itself since.
We take a closer look at the category to see how special calendar milestones drive visits to BevAlc retailers.
Visits to BevAlc retailers were up YoY during most months of 2024, showcasing the continued popularity of the category. And while December 2024 visits were slightly lower YoY – like due to the month having one fewer Saturday compared to December 2023 – diving deeper into the data reveals that the holidays remain the segment’s busiest time of the year.
Celebrations and holiday gatherings often call for a festive drink – and the data confirms that the holiday season drives massive visit spikes.
Of the eleven busiest days for BevAlc retailers in 2024, six fell in December, with New Year’s Eve leading the pack with a staggering 164.8% visit increase compared to the 2024 daily average. Other major drivers included Christmas Eve, Turkey Wednesday, and Christmas Eve-Eve (December 23rd, the day before Christmas), with visits growing between 131.9% and 145.2% relative to the 2024 daily visit average.
And given that some states restrict liquor sales on Sundays, the Fridays and Saturdays ahead of retail milestones were also significant drivers of liquor store visits. Six of the top eleven days for BevAlc retailers in 2024 fell on a Friday or Saturday, including the Saturday before Memorial Day and the Saturday before Father’s Day.
These patterns emphasize that while December remains the highlight of the year for BevAlc retailers, other celebratory periods throughout the year can also drive substantial visitation spikes.
A closer look at the data over the years highlights several important holiday season trends. New Year’s Eve consistently receives the largest daily spike in BevAlc retailers visits, with one notable exception. In 2023, Super Saturday – the last Saturday before Christmas – coincided with Christmas Eve Eve, driving a major retail and grocery boost across the board. Additionally, Christmas Eve, typically the second-largest day for BevAlc retailers visits in the year, fell on a Sunday in 2023, when liquor sales are restricted in some states and territories.
This combination of factors led to an unusually large spike in visits to liquor stores on December 23, 2023, or Super Saturday/Christmas Eve Eve – 198.5% higher than the 2023 daily visit average between January and October 2023. It was also the only year in our analysis where BevAlc retailers received more visits before Christmas than in the lead-up to New Year’s.
Another trend highlighted by the longer-term visit analysis is the consistent downward trajectory of visits. In 2019, visits to BevAlc retailers in the lead-up to New Year’s were 193.4% higher than the 2019 daily visit average – a figure that had declined to 164.8% by 2024. This decrease may reflect various factors, including the rising popularity of alcohol delivery services and growing interest in the sober-curious lifestyle.
Still, the holiday season remains the most critical period for the BevAlc segment – though BevAlc retailers may want to consider stocking up on low- or alcohol-free beverages to keep up with changing consumer trends.
Raising a glass to a special occasion is a time-honored tradition, whether it’s with a festive spiked eggnog, whiskey, or alcohol-free wine. With plenty of opportunities to gather throughout the holiday season, BevAlc retailers can raise a toast to their own foot traffic gains as well.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit Placer.ai.
The Fitness industry was a major post-pandemic winner. Visits to gyms across the country surged as stay-at-home orders ended and people returned to their in-person workout routines. And even as consumers reduced discretionary spending in the face of inflation, they kept going to the gym – finding room in their budgets for the chance to embrace wellness and get in shape while interacting with other people.
But no category can sustain such unabated growth forever – and as the segment inevitably stabilizes, gyms will need to stay nimble on their feet to maintain their competitive edge.
This white paper takes a closer look at the state of Fitness as the category transitions into a more stable growth phase following two years of outsize post-pandemic demand. The report digs into the location analytics to reveal how the Fitness space has changed – and what strategies gyms can adopt to stay ahead of the pack.
*This report excludes locations within Washington state due to local legislation.
Monthly visits to the Fitness category have grown consistently year over year (YoY) since early 2022, when COVID subsided and gyms returned to full capacity. And the segment is still doing remarkably well. Even in January and March 2024 – when visits were curtailed by an Arctic blast and by the Easter holiday weekend – YoY Fitness visits remained positive, despite the comparison to an already strong 2023.
Still, recent months have seen smaller YoY increases than last year, indicating that the Fitness category is entering a more normalized growth phase.
By keeping a close watch on evolving consumer preferences, fitness chains can uncover new opportunities for growth and adaptation within a stabilizing market – including leaning into increasingly popular dayparts.
Examining the evolving distribution of gym visits by daypart over the past six years shows that major shifts were brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Between Q1 2019 and Q1 2021, as remote work took hold, gyms saw their share of 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM visits increase from 15.8% to 18.6%. Though this trend partially reversed as the pandemic receded, afternoon visits remained elevated in Q1 2024 compared to pre-COVID – likely a reflection of hybrid work patterns that leave people free to take an exercise break during their workdays.
At the same time, the share of morning visits to fitness chains (between 8:00 AM and 11:00 AM) dropped from 20.5% in Q1 2019 to 17.2% in Q1 2024, while evening visits (between 8:00 PM and 11:00 PM) increased from 11.3% to 13.2%.
Gyms that recognize this changing behavior can adapt to new workout preferences – whether by incentivizing morning visits, scheduling popular classes mid-afternoon, or offering extended evening hours.
In fact, the data indicates that gyms that are leaning into the evening workout trend are already finding success: Of the top 12 most-visited gym chains in the country, those that saw bigger increases in their shares of evening visits also tended to see greater YoY visit growth.
EōS Fitness and Crunch Fitness, for example, have seen their shares of evening visits grow by 5.5% and 3.4%, respectively, since COVID – and in Q1 2024, their YoY visits grew by 29.0% and 21.8%, respectively. Other chains, including 24 Hour Fitness and Chuze Fitness, experienced similar shifts in visit patterns. At the same time, LA Fitness saw just a minor increase in its share of evening visits between Q1 2019 and Q1 2024, and a correspondingly small increase in YoY visits.
As the evening workout slot gains popularity, gym operators that can adapt to these new trends and encourage evening visits may see significant benefits in the years to come.
Diving into demographic data for the analyzed gym chains sheds light on some factors that may be driving this heightened preference for evening workouts at top-performing gyms.
The four fitness chains that experienced the greatest YoY visit boosts in Q1 – Crunch Fitness, EōS Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, and Chuze Fitness – all featured trade areas with significantly higher-than-average shares of Young Professionals and Non-Family Households. (STI: PopStat’s Non-Family Household segment includes households with more than one person not defined as family members. Spatial.ai: PersonaLive’s Young Professional consumer segment includes young professionals starting their careers in white collar or technical jobs.)
In plainer terms, these consumer segments – typically young, well-educated, and without children – and therefore more likely to be flexible in their workout times – are driving visits to some of the best-performing gyms across the country. And these audiences seem to be displaying a preference for nighttime sweat sessions – a factor that gyms can take into account when planning programming and marketing efforts.
Leaning into emerging gym visitation patterns is one way for fitness chains to thrive in 2024 – but it isn’t the only marker of success for the segment. Even after years of visit growth, the market remains open to new opportunities and innovations that meet health-conscious consumers where they are.
STRIDE Fitness, a gym that offers treadmill-based interval training, has sparked a trend among running enthusiasts. This niche player is finding success, particularly among a specific demographic: runners and endurance training enthusiasts.
Between January and April 2024, monthly YoY visits to STRIDE Fitness consistently outperformed the wider Fitness space. A standout month was January, when STRIDE Fitness’s visits soared by an impressive 33.6% YoY, surpassing the industry average of 5.7% for the same period.
Psychographic data from the Spatial.ai’s FollowGraph dataset – which looks at the social media activity of a given audience – suggests that STRIDE Fitness’ trade areas are well-positioned to attract those visitors most open to its offerings. Residents of STRIDE Fitness’s potential market are 24% more likely to be, or to be interested in, Endurance Athletes than the nationwide average – compared to just 3% for the Fitness industry as a whole. Similar patterns emerge for Marathon Runners and Triathlon Participants. This indicates that the chain is well-situated near consumers with a passion for endurance sports and long distance running, helping it maintain a competitive edge in the crowded gym market.
Pickleball, a game that blends elements of tennis, ping pong, and badminton, is the fastest-growing sport in the country. And recognizing its broad appeal, some fitness chains have begun incorporating pickleball courts into their facilities.
Arizona-based EōS Fitness added a pickleball court at a Phoenix, AZ location – and early 2024 data highlights the impact of this addition. Between January and April 2024, the location drew between 9.1% and 33.3% more monthly visits than the chain’s Arizona visit-per-location average.
And analyzing the demographic profile of the chain’s location with a pickleball court reinforces the game’s increasingly wide appeal. Young consumer segments have been embracing the game in large numbers – and the Phoenix EōS Fitness location’s potential market includes a significantly higher share of 18 to 34-year-olds than the chain’s overall Arizona potential market. Residents of the pickleball location’s trade area are also less affluent than the chain’s Arizona average.
Pickleball has typically been associated with more affluent consumer segments, and it seems like this may be shifting. With more people than ever embracing the game, gyms that choose to add courts to their facilities may reap the foot traffic benefits.
The Fitness industry has undergone a significant transformation since COVID-19. The category’s outsize post-pandemic visit growth has begun to stabilize, and gyms are staying ahead by adapting to changing consumer preferences. Evenings are emerging as crucial dayparts for gym operators, likely driven by younger consumer segments. And niche fitness chains are seeing visit success, proving that there are plenty of ways for the Fitness segment to succeed.
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.
