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After theaters were dominated by Barbenheimer in 2023, 2024 is shaping up to be another record-breaking year, with several big-name releases. We took a closer look at visitation patterns at major movie theater chains – AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, and Cinemark – to analyze how foot traffic has been impacted by the highly anticipated summer releases of Deadpool & Wolverine and Twisters.
Last year was one of the most exciting ones in recent memory for cinema, with multiple films breaking box-office records and driving foot traffic at movie theaters across the country. But 2024 has had plenty of tricks up its cinematic sleeve, and several summer releases have been meeting the high bar set by Barbenheimer. Inside Out 2, released nationwide on June 14th 2024, kickstarted the summer with a major movie-goer visit boost– and Deadpool & Wolverine, released on July 26, 2024 brought out even bigger crowds.
Indeed, the superhero crossover movie Deadpool & Wolverine is set to be one of the best-performing films of 2024. During the week of July 22nd, 2024 – when Deadpool & Wolverine was released – visits to movie leaders AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, and Cinemark jumped by 132.7% to 140.5% compared to a YTD weekly average. Twisters, released on July 19th, also drove impressive visit boosts ranging from 39.8% to 48.3% during the week of July 15th.
Early screenings have always been a big driver of visits for those lucky enough to grab tickets. And on the day before Deadpool & Wolverine’s big July 26th release, movie theaters already started filling up. On Thursday, July 25th, 2024, visits to AMC, Regal, and Cinemark were up a whopping 231.4% to 249.7% compared to a YTD Thursday average. And Friday, Saturday, and Sunday continued to see visit numbers significantly higher than the YTD visit averages for those days of the week, confirming the movie’s ability to drive visits to theaters. (In absolute terms, Saturday, July 27th was the cinema leaders’ busiest day of the year so far – but since Saturdays tend to be busier than Thursdays, the relative visit spike was somewhat smaller).
Drilling down into the data for major markets shows that though Deadpool & Wolverine was the runaway hit of the summer, Twisters also drove significant visit spikes throughout the country. And of the major markets, some of Twisters’ biggest visit boosts took place in states with plenty of hands-on tornado experience – like Texas, where July 19th visits to AMC, Regal, and Cinemark (combined) were up 98.5% compared to a YTD daily average.
Indeed, looking at the states where Twisters drove the biggest visit spikes shows that many of the top performers were in tornado-prone areas. Oklahoma – where much of the movie was filmed – saw the most impressive Twisters foot traffic bump, with visits to leading cinemas up 224.1% on July 19th, 2024 compared to a YTD daily average. And the tornado-focused thriller also drew outsize crowds in other states where the theme of the movie was more likely than average to resonate with local audiences’ personal experiences – including Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas.
Blockbuster releases like Deadpool & Wolverine, Twisters, and Inside Out 2 highlight the enduring appeal of out-of-home entertainment, and proves that movie theaters are as relevant as ever.
With more highly-anticipated releases still yet to come in 2024, can movie theaters across the country continue to break visit records?
Visit Placer.ai to stay on top of the latest data-driven leisure and entertainment stories.
Ahead of Toyota’s August 1st earnings call, we dove into the data to explore Q2 2024 visitation patterns at Toyota dealerships nationwide. How did year-over-year (YoY) foot traffic to Toyota showrooms perform in Q2 2024 – and what happened in June 2024, when the CDK Global outage caused paralysis across the industry? Who are the customers driving growth for Toyota – and what lies in store for the brand in the months ahead?
We dove into the data to find out.
During the second quarter of 2024, Toyota subsidiary TMNA (Toyota Motor North America, Inc.) reported a remarkable 9.2% year-over-year (YoY) increase in U.S. Toyota vehicle sales, buoyed by rising demand for hybrid cars. (The company also owns the luxury Lexus line).
And foot traffic data shows that U.S. Toyota dealerships have indeed been significantly busier in Q2 2024 than in Q2 2023, outperforming the wider space. Apart from the regular portion of repair and maintenance visits, the auto brand’s YoY visit growth also reflects an increase in interested buyers. In April and May 2024, Toyota dealerships saw respective YoY visit boosts of 8.6% and 7.4%. And though the pace of YoY foot traffic growth to dealerships dropped in June 2024 – likely due in part to the CDK outage – the brand appears poised for continued visit success throughout the rest of the year.
Toyota’s outsize success is likely due, in part, to its broad appeal – amongst everyone from price-conscious families seeking to maximize reliability and fuel efficiency to more affluent consumers that place a high premium on style. Toyota’s Certified Used Vehicles offering also draws in customers looking for trustworthy, pre-owned cars.
Analyzing Toyota dealerships’ captured markets with psychographics from Spatial.ai’s PersonaLive shows that their trade areas are economically diverse. Toyota attracts customers from areas with higher-than-average shares of both middle and working-class families, as well as more affluent ones. And Young Urban Singles are also more likely than average to visit Toyota dealerships.
Still, in Q2 2024, Toyota dealerships attracted a slightly more affluent consumer than average. The median household income (HHI) of the dealerships’ captured markets was $77.0K, just above the nationwide baseline of $76.1K. And looking at changes in Toyota’s audience over time also shows that the median HHI of its customer base has increased steadily over the past few years – rebounding to, and even exceeding, pre-pandemic levels. In the face of high interest rates, consumers with less room in their budgets may be cutting back on visits to car dealerships. And Toyota’s hybrid first strategy may also be increasing its appeal among more affluent car owners, who are more likely to purchase hybrid vehicles.
Will Toyota continue to thrive in the months ahead? And how will its customer base continue to evolve as inflation stabilizes and interest rates eventually come down?
Follow Placer.ai’s data-driven retail analyses to find out.
All-day breakfast mainstays Denny’s and IHOP (owned by Dine Brands) are two of the most popular full-service restaurants (FSRs) in the United States. But though the chains occupy similar niches, there are some differences between them. We dove into the data to check in with the two breakfast leaders – and see how they stack up against one another on key visitation metrics.
Both Denny’s and IHOP are major players in the FSR space. With its somewhat larger footprint, IHOP captured 6.0% of visits to full-service restaurant chains in the U.S in H1 2024, while Denny’s captured 5.0%. And despite the headwinds that continued to weigh on the sector this year, both chains saw modest YoY foot traffic gains in May and June 2024.
(The relatively big YoY fluctuations that both chains experienced in March and April 2024 are likely due in part to calendar shifts: March 2024 had one more weekend than March 2023, while April 2024 had one fewer weekend than April 2023. The two chains’ YoY June performance was also likely buoyed by an extra weekend in June 2024.)
Who are IHOP’s and Denny’s typical customers? Given the two diners’ affordable offerings, it may come as no surprise that both restaurants draw visitors from captured markets with median household incomes below the nationwide baseline of $76.1K – $67.5K for Denny’s and $69.2K for IHOP.* Both chains also draw substantial shares of customers from Blue Collar Suburbs.
But each breakfast leader also draws a unique mix of visitors from a range of segments – with Denny’s attracting higher shares of middle-class urbanites and IHOP attracting higher shares of wealthy and upper-middle-class suburbanites.
Wealthy Suburban Families, for example, made up 9.5% of IHOP’s captured market and 8.1% of Denny’s in H1 2024 – while Young Urban Singles made up 10.5% of Denny’s captured market and 9.2% of IHOP’s. And while Denny’s visitors were more likely to hail from middle-class Near-Urban Diverse Families, IHOP visitors were more likely to be from upper-middle-class Upper Suburban Diverse Families.
The ability of both chains to attract a wide variety of audiences across economic strata is an important factor in their success and staying power.
*Based on STI: PopStats, combined with Placer.ai trade area data for January-June 2024.
Plenty of people eat at all-day breakfast chains on a regular basis: In June 2024, for example, 16.9% and 14.1% of visitors to Denny’s and IHOP, respectively, frequented the chains at least twice during the month. But for both restaurants, holidays and other special milestones – including Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Veteran’s Day – drive major visit spikes.
Here too, however, the data reveals important differences between the two chains. Generally speaking, IHOP’s special-occasion visit boosts (compared to annual daily averages) are more substantial than those of Denny’s. And while for Denny’s, Christmas Day is the busiest day of the year, for IHOP, Mother’s Day reigns supreme. And Veteran’s Day – which both IHOP and Denny’s mark with free meals for current and former servicemen and women – is more important for IHOP than for Denny’s.
A look at the daily and hourly breakdown of visits to IHOP and Denny’s shows that the two chains also follow similar visitation patterns – but with a twist. For both restaurants, Sunday morning between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM is the single most busiest daypart of the week – when many customers likely visit the chains to enjoy leisurely weekend brunches. Predictably, the 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM daypart is also bustling for both breakfast brands throughout the rest of the week.
But though IHOP and Denny’s both have many restaurants that are open 24/7, Denny’s sees a greater share of evening and late night visits than IHOP – perhaps reflecting the chain’s recent push to increase the number of locations open in the wee hours. Between January and June 2024, Friday and Saturday evenings between 10:00 PM and 1:00 AM drew 2.3% and 2.5%, respectively, of weekly visits to Denny’s – compared to just 1.6% and 1.7%, respectively, for IHOP.
IHOP and Denny’s are two of the most important FSR chains on the category landscape. And location analytics shows that there’s plenty of room at the top for both chains, which despite similar offerings serve audiences with somewhat different profiles and behaviors.
For more data-driven restaurant insights, follow Placer.ai.
Warby Parker continues to impress. The company got its start as an online eyewear retailer before opening its first brick-and-mortar location in 2013, and has since expanded rapidly to operate over 200 stores nationwide.
What is driving its success? We dove into the data to find out.
Warby Parker debuted its innovative retail model in 2010, disrupting an eyewear industry dominated by legacy brands. The company’s direct-to-consumer model and online try-on options proved highly popular, and as the brand moved offline, its physical stores flourished.
And more than decade after Warby Parker opened its first brick-and-mortar store, the chain’s offline locations continue to thrive. Between January and June 2024, YoY visits to Warby Parker increased significantly as the chain continued to expand – growing from 204 U.S. locations at the end of Q1 2023 to over 250 today. Over the same period, the average number of visits to each Warby Parker store also rose (except in January, when retail was hard hit by inclement weather) – showing that the brand’s growing footprint is meeting robust demand.
Zooming out on Warby Parker’s monthly visit trajectory – compared to a July 2019 baseline – reveals just how well-positioned the company is heading into the summer. Aside from a brief dip during the early days of the pandemic, the company’s visits have been on a remarkable upward trend, outpacing visits to eye care retailers by a wide margin.
The baseline trend analysis also shows that Warby Parker is particularly prone to seasonal visit fluctuations – with notable foot traffic boosts during the December holiday season. And like other eye care chains, Warby Parker also experiences smaller visit increases during the summer months, as back-to-school shopping gets underway. Given Warby Parker’s strong June 2024 performance, the chain appears poised to enjoy a strong July and August this year.
Warby Parker’s robust positioning heading into the summer may be driven, in part, by its special appeal to college students. Analyzing Warby Parker’s captured market with demographics and psychographics from STI’s PopStats and Landscape datasets shows that the eyewear brand draws customers from trade areas with significantly higher shares of this coveted demographic than the wider eyewear segment: Between January and June 2024 STI: Landscape’s Collegian segment made up 4.2% of Warby Parker’s captured market, compared to just 1.2% for the wider eyewear category. As back-to-college shopping picks up steam, college students may flock to the chain to upgrade their wardrobes with trendy eyeglasses.
And though Warby Parker’s captured market features a lower share of families with children than the category average, parents – who may also get their kids fitted for new glasses before the start of the school year – make up a significant portion of the brand’s visitor base.
Warby Parker has successfully transitioned from an online retailer to a brick-and-mortar powerhouse. Will the chain continue to meet with success as it expands even further?
Visit Placer.ai to keep up with the latest data-driven retail insights.
Gym visits flourished at the start of 2024, as consumers made their yearly New Years resolutions and flocked to fitness clubs nationwide. But how did category leaders fare in Q2 2024? We dove into the data to find out – zooming in on Planet Fitness, a major player in the fitness space.
Throughout H1 2024, Planet Fitness experienced consistent YoY visit growth, finishing out Q2 2024 with a quarterly increase of 6.3% compared to the equivalent period of 2023. And though some of this visit growth is due to Planet Fitness’ ongoing expansion, the average number of visits to each of the chain’s gyms also increased YoY during most of the analyzed period.
Indeed, only in March and May 2024 did the average number of visits to each Planet Fitness location decline YoY. And a look at the weekly breakdown of visits to Planet Fitness shows that these declines may be due, in part, to calendar shifts.
Location analytics reveal that though some people like to hit the gym on weekends, many customers prefer to get their exercise in on regular work days, especially at the start of the week: Throughout H1 2024, Planet Fitness drew the most visits on Mondays (17.4% of weekly visits), Tuesdays (17.7%), and Wednesdays (17.2%), with attendance dropping steadily as the week wore on. And both March and May 2024 – the two months that saw visits per location decline YoY – contained fewer non-holiday Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays than the equivalent periods of 2023.
Planet Fitness’ continued visit success appears to be driven, in part, by its growing share of frequent visitors. Gym visitation is highly seasonal – with visits slumping during the holidays and then spiking in January, as people vow to double down on exercise routines.
A look at changes in the share of Planet Fitness visitors hitting the gym at least four times per month (roughly, once a week) reveals a similar pattern. The share of frequent visitors is at its highest in January, remains elevated through April or May, and declines as the year draws to a close. (January 2022 deviated from this pattern, likely due to the Omicron resurgence.)
Despite these seasonal fluctuations, the share of visitors making weekly stops at Planet Fitness has been on an overall upward trajectory – going higher each year between 2021 and 2023. And though this rise leveled off in 2024 amidst a stabilizing fitness market, frequent visitor rates remained high in 2024, with some months seeing continued YoY increases. This elevated loyalty is good news for Planet Fitness – since more engaged customers are more likely to renew or even upgrade their memberships.
With value still top of mind for many consumers, Planet Fitness’ famously low prices have positioned the chain for success. Will this positive momentum continue as consumers adjust to the chain’s first basic membership price increase in 26 years?
Follow Placer.ai’s data-driven analyses to find out.
*This report excludes locations within Washington state due to local legislation.
Now that we’ve cleared the halfway point for 2024 with retailers preparing for back-to-school shopping (and Q2 2024 reporting season), we thought we’d take stock of where we stand from a retail category perspective. Last year, we looked at visit per location data by retail category at the halfway point for the year, which proved to be a useful indicator for what to expect for the rest of the year. We thought we’d revisit the analysis to give some perspective of what to expect in the months to come.
Needless to say, it’s been another volatile year for most retailers, with a tepid start to the year due to weather, followed by solid event/holiday spending in February/March, and a lackluster April (though partly the result of the Easter holiday calendar shift). May, June, and July visitation data offered some encouraging signs, with year-over-year visits increasing to a mid-single-digit level (according to Placer's Industry Trends report). Importantly, increased visits won’t necessarily translate into the same level of sales increases, as visits are continuously being driven by deals/lower price points for many categories.
Based on the positive trendline for retail in general, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the majority of the 25 retail categories we’ve presented show positive growth from a visit per location year-over-year perspective (below).
A few notable takeaways from the visit per location analysis:
Last year, our midpoint visit per location trends gave us some ideas as to how the second half of the year might shake out. Based on our first half 2024 visitation data, we expect (1) consumers to continue prioritize value in the second half of the year, especially those chains that have been able to create excitement/newness for their value assortment; (2) consumers will continue to prioritize holidays/events, which bodes well for back-to-school, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas; (3) we will continue to see better balance between experiences and goods this year (as we've discussed in the past).
Following COVID-era highs, domestic migration levels have begun to taper off – with the number of Americans moving within the U.S. hitting an all-time low, according to some sources, in 2023.
To be sure, some popular COVID-era destinations – including Idaho, the Carolinas, and Utah – saw their net domestic migration continue to rise, albeit at a slower pace. But other states which had been relocation hotspots between February 2020 and February 2023, such as Wyoming and Texas, experienced negative net migration between February 2023 and February 2024.
Analyzing CBSA-level migration data reveals differences and similarities between last year’s migration patterns and COVID-era trends.
Between February 2020 and February 2023, seven out of the ten CBSAs posting the largest population increases due to inbound domestic migration were located in Florida. But between February 2023 and February 2024, the top 10 CBSAs with the largest net migrated percent of the population were significantly more diverse. Only four out of the ten CBSAs were located in Florida, and several new metro areas – including Provo-Orem, UT, Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, and Boulder, CO – joined the list.
This white paper leverages a variety of location intelligence tools – including Placer.ai’s Migration Report, Niche Neighborhood Grades, and ACS Census Data location intelligence – to analyze two migration hotspots. Specifically, the report focuses on Daytona Beach, FL, which already appeared on the February 2020 to February 2023 list and has continued to see steady growth, and Boulder, CO, which has emerged as a new top destination. The data highlights the potential of CBSAs with unique value propositions to continue to attract newcomers despite ongoing housing headwinds.
The Boulder, CO CBSA has emerged as a domestic migration hotspot: The net influx of population between February 2023 and February 2024 (i.e. the total number of people that moved to Boulder from elsewhere in the U.S., minus those that left) constituted 3.1% of the CBSA’s February 2024 population.
The strong migration is partially due to the University of Colorado, Boulder’s growing popularity. But the metro area has also emerged as a flourishing tech hub, with Google, Apple, and Amazon all setting up shop in town, along with a wealth of smaller start ups.
Most domestic relocators tend to remain within state lines – so unsurprisingly, many of the recent newcomers to Boulder moved from other CBSAs in Colorado. But perhaps due to Boulder’s robust tech ecosystem, many of the new residents also came from Los Angeles, CA (6.6%) and San Francisco, CA (3.4%) – other CBSAs known for their thriving tech scenes.
At the same time, looking at the other CBSAs feeding migration to the area indicates that tech is likely not the only draw attracting people to Boulder: A significant share of relocators came from the CBSAs of Chicago, IL (6.1%), Dallas , TX (4.9%), and New York, NY (3.9%). The move from these relatively urbanized CBSAs to scenic Boulder indicates that some of the domestic migration to the area is likely driven by people looking for better access to nature or a general lifestyle change.
According to the U.S. News & World Report, Boulder ranked in second place in terms of U.S. cities with the best quality of life. Using Niche Neighborhood Grades to compare quality of life attributes in the Boulder CBSA and in the areas of origin dataset highlights some of the draw factors attracting newcomers to Boulder beyond the thriving tech scene.
The Boulder CBSA ranked higher than the metro areas of origin for “Public Schools,” “Health & Fitness,” “Fit for Families,” and “Access to Outdoor Activities.” These migration draw factors are likely helping Boulder attract more senior executives alongside younger tech workers – and can also explain why relocators from more urban metro areas may be choosing to make Boulder their home.
Boulder’s strong inbound migration numbers over the past year – likely driven by its flourishing tech scene and beautiful natural surroundings – reveal the growth potential of certain CBSAs regardless of wider housing market headwinds.
Florida experienced a population boom during the pandemic, and several CBSAs in the state – including the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL CBSA – have continued to welcome domestic relocators in high numbers. The CBSA’s anchor city, Daytona Beach – known for its Bike Week and NASCAR’s Daytona 500 – has also seen positive net migration between February 2023 and February 2024.
Americans planning for retirement or retirees operating on a fixed income are likely particularly interested in optimizing their living expenses. And given Daytona’s relative affordability, it’s no surprise that the median age in the areas of origin feeding migration to Daytona Beach tends to be on the older side.
According to the 2021 Census ACS 5-Year Projection data, the median age in Daytona Beach was 39.0. Meanwhile, the weighted median age in the areas of migration origin was 42.6, indicating that those moving to Daytona Beach may be older than the current residents of the city.
Zooming into the migration data on a zip code level also highlights Daytona Beach’s appeal to older Americans: The zip code welcoming the highest rates of domestic migration was 32124, home to both Jimmy Buffet’s Latitude Margaritaville’s 55+ community and the LPGA International Golf Club, host of the LPGA Tour. The median age in this zip code is also older than in Daytona Beach as a whole, and the weighted age in the zip codes of origin was even higher – suggesting that older Americans and retirees may be driving much of the migration to the area.
Looking at the migration draw factors for Daytona Beach also suggests that the city is particularly appealing to retirees, with the city scoring an A grade for its “Fit for Retirees.” But the city of Daytona Beach is also an attractive destination for anyone looking to elevate their leisure time, with the city scoring higher than Daytona Beach’s cities of migration origin for “Weather,” “Access to Restaurants,” or “Access to Nightlife.”
Like Boulder, Daytona’s scenery – including its famous beaches – is likely attracting newcomers looking to spend more time outdoors and improve their work-life balance. And like Boulder and its tech scene, Daytona Beach also has an extra pull factor – its affordability and fit for older Americans – that is likely helping the area continue to attract new residents, even as domestic migration slows down nationwide.
Although the overall pace of domestic migration has slowed, analyzing location intelligence data reveals several migration hotspots amidst the overall cooldown. Boulder and Daytona Beach each have a set of unique draw factors that seem to attract different populations – and the success of these regions highlights the many paths to migration growth in 2024.
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.
