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Big Chicken's moment in the spotlight has been building for the past few years. The surge in chicken offerings – from Chili’s popular sandwich to the expansion of local and international chicken chains and McDonald’s recently launched McCrispy strips – has spurred considerable traffic in the fast-casual and quick-service dining sectors.
With the year’s midpoint quickly approaching, we took a look at some of the most popular players in the game to see how visits are performing.
Chicken is the most popular protein in America, so it’s no surprise that chicken-centric restaurants are thriving. Still, even within this favorable dining landscape, recent years have seen chains like Dave’s Hot Chicken and Raising Cane’s significantly outpace other dining concepts in terms of growth.
Visits to chicken restaurants Huey Magoo’s, Super Chix, Dave’s Hot Chicken, and Raising Cane’s showed impressive year-over-year (YoY) growth in Q1 2025. Dave’s Hot Chicken, recently acquired in a $1 billion deal, experienced the most significant YoY visit growth – 67.2% in Q4 2024 and 60.0% in Q1 2025, followed by Super Chix (26.9% and 19.7%, respectively), with Raising Cane’s and Huey Magoo’s following closely. In contrast, overall fast-casual restaurants saw much more muted growth – and quick-service visits declined slightly in both quarters.
Some of the visit growth is driven by expansions – all of the analyzed chicken chains are growing their footprint to meet growing demand. And most brands are either growing or seeing only minor declines in their average visits per location numbers – suggesting that demand is keeping up with supply.
In terms of performance, Dave’s and Raising Cane’s also saw the most year-over-year growth in average visits per location in Q1 2025, up 11.6% and 3.6%, respectively. While Huey Magoo’s and Super Chix experienced a slight slowdown in visits per location, their numbers tracked closely with those of previous years and the wider fast-casual and quick-service dining segments.
Overall, weekly visits in April generally maintained their upward trend. Although the week of April 14th saw a slight dip in visits for Huey Magoo’s and Raising Cane’s, both chains quickly returned to growth in subsequent weeks.
And once again, Dave’s Hot Chicken continued to drive the most significant visit increases, with weekly visits surging by 55.1% during the week of April 28th.
Each of the analyzed chains has its own unique draw. Huey Magoo’s fans call the chain the “Filet Mignon of Chicken,” while Dave’s Hot Chicken is known for its meticulous, chef-driven approach to fried chicken. Still, diving into the geographic segmentation data for each chain highlights a common thread uniting them: their strength in the suburbs and mid-sized cities.
In Q1 2025, all four chains saw significant shares of visitors originating from the “Suburban Periphery” and “Metro Cities” – defined by the Esri: Tapestry Segmentation dataset as commuter-oriented suburbs and mid-sized cities. However, despite these similarities across major geographic segments, visitors to these chains had their own distinctions as well. Notably, Huey Magoo’s drew 15.4% of its visitors from “Rural” areas, while only 1.9% and 4.4% of Dave’s Hot Chicken and Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers visitors, respectively, came from those areas.
This highlights that while a significant portion of visitors to these chicken chains come from relatively similar areas, enough distinctions remain within their customer bases to allow for individual brand differentiation.
Chicken chains continue to be one of the most exciting dining categories to watch. As the chains continue to spread their wings, will visits continue to fly with them? Or will the cluck stop?
Visit Placer.ai to keep up with the latest data-driven dining insights.
Analyzing location intelligence for Saturday, May 10th (the day before Mother’s Day) and on Sunday, May 11th (Mother’s Day) can reveal how some consumers chose to celebrate the occasion.
Full-service restaurants – including breakfast-first casual dining chains such as IHOP and Waffle House – saw significant visit spikes on Mother’s Day, with traffic also rising on Saturday (almost 10% up compared to the average Saturday to date). In fact, Mother’s Day and the day before Mother’s Day were the busiest Sunday and Saturday in 2025 so far, respectively. Coffee chains also received a boost – both before Mother’s day and an even larger spike on Mother’s Day itself.
May 10th and 11th were also the most visited Saturdays and Sundays in 2025 so far at greeting card retailers – both specialized stores like Hallmark and chains with a large greeting card selection such as CVS and Walgreens. Finally, Ulta also received a boost – likely from shoppers looking for the perfect Mother’s Day gift.
For more data-driven consumer insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Off-price apparel chains continue to resonate with inflation-conscious shoppers seeking their favorite brands without significant expense. We examined the visitation patterns for several major players in this sector – T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, and Burlington – to gain insight into their performance during the first half of the year.
Off-price leaders continued to enjoy elevated visits throughout Q1 2025, with all of the analyzed chains experiencing visit growth. Burlington led the visit growth charge with 6.5% more visits in Q1 2025 than in Q1 2024, followed by T.J. Maxx and Marshalls (both owned by parent company TJX Companies), at 3.8% and 3.3%, respectively. Ross experienced the most modest year-over-year (YoY) visit growth of 0.5% in Q1 2025 – but still outpaced the overall apparel segment, which saw visits dip by 3.2% YoY.
Average visits per location showed slightly more variance, however, with Ross and Burlington experiencing dips of 2.7% and 1.9% YoY. Still, both chains expanded their store fleets somewhat significantly in recent months, and these visit-per-location lags may diminish as customer traffic normalizes across their newer locations.
Diving into monthly visitation patterns – most months experienced growth, though YoY visits took a significant dive in February 2025, likely owing to inclement weather that kept many at home. And visits rebounded in March and April, while overall visits to the apparel segment remained below growth – highlighting off-price retailers’ continued ability to attract and retain consumers amid broader challenges facing retail.
But what lies behind off-price’s continuous rise? This segment has thrived for the past few years, defying the overall trends facing the apparel sector. A significant part of this success may stem from the segment’s inherent “treasure-hunt” experience – off-price shopping cultivates a browsing mentality, encouraging visitors to linger and explore the constantly changing inventory.
A closer look at average dwell times over the past few years – from the pre-pandemic era through the inflationary surges of 2023 and 2024 – reveals that visitors to off-price retailers linger significantly longer than those at overall apparel chains. For example, in 2025, visitors to T.J. Maxx and Burlington spent 40.3 and 43.9 minutes shopping, respectively, while visitors to apparel chains averaged just 33.3 minutes. To be sure, dwell times have slightly decreased across the board since COVID, likely due to factors such as increased interest in online shopping. But the longer dwell times at off-price stores highlight the sustained appeal of brick-and-mortar retail – especially when it offers added value.
And further cementing the “treasure hunt” engagement shopping aspect of off-price retail, visitors to the analyzed chains were significantly more likely to shop in the evening – between 6:00 and 10:00 PM – than visitors to other apparel chains.
This difference in visit timing suggests that off-price shoppers are indeed making a dedicated trip, reserving a good chunk of their evening – once their daily duties were taken care of – for extended browsing sessions. This strong engagement during evening hours may signify that shoppers are receptive to longer shopping hours.
Off-price retail continues to thrive, fueled, in part, by the “treasure hunt” experience. Shoppers to these chains are increasingly staying longer, and coming later in the day to maximize their shopping times – proving that, even in an unclear economic climate, there’s plenty of ways for retail to thrive.
Visit Placer.ai/anchor for the latest data-driven retail insights.
Department stores have faced their fair share of challenges in recent years – and many of these household names are still figuring out how to remain relevant and adapt to a challenging economic environment.
With the first half of the year nearly behind us, we took a look at the visit performance for some of the major players in the department store space to understand their current standing.
As consumer budgets continue to react to the strain of rising prices, department stores are experiencing mixed visitation patterns. While luxury shoppers have, in some cases, been more insulated from the effects of inflation and rising costs, visits to high-end department stores have not been spared from this overall volatility.
However, some department stores are rallying. Visits to Nordstrom (which will be shifting to private ownership soon) and Bloomingdale’s grew by 3.3% and 2.7%, respectively, in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024. Meanwhile, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus – which recently merged – saw their Q1 2025 visits drop by -6.0% and -5.9% YoY, respectively.
Average visits per location showed more variance, with Nordstrom the only department store to experience growth in this metric (+4.1%).
Analyzing visits into April showed a continuation of the quarterly trends explored above. Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s continued to enjoy visit growth for the most part, while Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus visits declined slightly relative to 2024.
While Nordstrom, Macy’s, and Saks are known for their luxury offerings, several other department stores cater to a more mid-range consumer – and like their luxury counterparts, their visit performance has varied since the start of the year.
In Q1 2025, Macy’s was the sole department store among those analyzed to experience overall visit growth – though none of the chains saw their average visits per location surpass those of Q1 2024. However, April visits offered a more positive outlook, with Belk and JCPenney, in particular, showing elevated visits in all but one week of April 2025. Dillard's also displayed promising visitation patterns, with weekly visits up for two weeks of April.
And in an environment where so many department stores are struggling, the ability for these brands to keep visits near, or above, previous years’ levels suggests that this segment is enjoying stability.
Despite the challenges facing the overall retail segment, department stores are proving their staying power. The strong visit performance of some – like Nordstrom and Belk – alongside the visit declines of others highlight that the way ahead looks different for every store.
With plenty of changes – including in ownership and merchandising initiatives – coming up for many of these chains, will visits continue to grow?
Visit Placer.ai/anchor to stay ahead of the latest data-driven retail insights.
Superstores remain American retail staples, and once again, wholesale clubs were the foot traffic winners of the space in Q1 2025. We dove into the data to explore how weather and expanding footprints played a part in visitation trends for Target, Walmart, Sam’s Club, BJ’s Wholesale Club, and Costco Wholesale and how the demographic characteristics of visitors impacted in-store shopping behavior.
Wholesale clubs outperformed traditional superstores in Q1 2025, as BJ’s, Sam’s Club, and Costco saw 2.7% to 6.1% YoY visit increases. BJ’s and Costco expanded their footprints over the past year, which likely caused overall visit growth to outpace visit-per-location increases.
Zooming in on monthly visits reveals more nuanced foot traffic patterns. After a strong January 2025, February’s YoY visits were impacted by the comparison to 2024’s leap year. And despite severe weather, YoY traffic to all of the analyzed chains improved in March 2025, perhaps due to consumers stocking up on essentials in preparation for the storms.
Although Walmart and Target saw YoY foot traffic declines in Q1 2025 overall, Walmart saw a 4.5% YoY visit increase in April, while Target saw its visit gap narrow. Some of the April strength may have been due to the pull-forward of consumer demand ahead of anticipated price hikes and supply constraints.
The two chains’ improved April performance was likely also aided by pre-Easter shopping, with Walmart receiving the more sizable visit boost. Last year, Easter fell during the week of March 25th, ‘24, but this year, Easter fell during the week of April 14th, ‘25, giving Walmart a 15.5% weekly visit boost while Target benefitted from a smaller 0.9% visit lift (compared to the weekly average YTD). Clearly, Walmart is a more popular pre-Easter shopping destination and the calendar shift played a part in the chain’s YoY visit growth in April.
All three of the leading wholesale clubs – BJ’s, Sam’s Club, and Costco – carry a variety of essentials sold in-bulk, as well as products from discretionary categories such as apparel, housewares, and electronics. But diving into the retailers’ captured trade areas in Q1 2025 reveals that each chain serves a slightly different audience.
Costco tends to attract visitors from higher-income areas and larger households (including those with children and non-family roommates) than either Sam’s Club or BJ’s. And since larger households may need to stock-up on essentials more frequently, this could account for Costco’s higher average share of repeat monthly visitors, and by extension, its strong membership renewal rate.
Meanwhile, Sam’s Club and BJ’s typically attract more single-person households and visitors from lower-income areas – at least in part because singles are often younger consumers who have yet to reach their peak earning years. This clientele presents an opportunity for Sam’s Club and BJ’s to foster lifetime brand loyalty among digitally-driven Millennials and Gen Z-ers and shoppers seeking value in what remains a challenging economic environment.
Visitors to Sam’s Club, BJ’s, and Costco also exhibit different in-store shopping behaviors. BJ’s and Sam’s Club visitors appear to make quicker trips, with both brands seeing a larger share of visits under thirty minutes than Costco in Q1 2025 – which may be due to the use of time-saving self-checkout apps and curbside pickup. Meanwhile, Costco experienced a greater share of weekday visits than either BJ’s or Sam’s Club – perhaps since shoppers from larger households are likely to replenish essentials mid-week and prepare for large weekend gatherings. An understanding of these consumer preferences and behaviors could help the chains build out their retail media networks and put the right promotions in front of shoppers at the right time.
Wholesale clubs and superstores remain go-to destinations for essentials – and nearly everything else – and are likely to maintain their positions as retail powerhouses going forward. Using location analytics, brands can better understand their consumer base and hone their retail strategies to drive further growth.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit Placer.ai.
We dove into the data to explore The Home Depot and Lowe’s recent foot traffic performance, audience profiles, and consumer trends shaping what lies ahead for the chains.
The home improvement space has seen YoY traffic lag for quite some time, as sustained challenges in the housing market and tight budgets have resulted in fewer home improvement projects. Despite these trends continuing in Q1 2025, YoY visit gaps to home improvement retailers remained relatively minor; The Home Depot received 3.8% less visits in Q1 2025 than in Q1 2024 while Lowe’s received 3.6% fewer visits.
Zooming in on monthly visits reveals more nuanced foot traffic patterns to The Home Depot and Lowe’s. February’s relatively dramatic declines in YoY visits were likely impacted by the comparison to 2024’s leap year. And in spite of severe weather, YoY traffic to the chains improved in March 2025 as consumers prepared their homes for storms.
Despite Q1 2025’s lackluster performance, analysis of weekly visits suggests that there is reason for optimism in the home improvement space. In 2024, industry foot traffic peaked in mid-May – perhaps as consumers took on pre-Summer projects – indicating that the next few weeks of 2025 present an opportunity for The Home Depot and Lowe’s to drive significant seasonal traffic.
As traffic to the home improvement space begins to turn a corner, analysis of the trade areas from which The Home Depot and Lowe’s attract visitors reveals that each chain serves a slightly different mix of rural, suburban, and urban audience segments.
In Q1 2025, both The Home Depot and Lowe’s were popular among consumers in regions defined as “Suburban Periphery” and “Metro Cities” (i.e. small metro areas and satellite cities). However, Lowe’s drove higher shares of traffic from rural segments and The Home Depot from strongly urbanized ones. This audience segmentation highlights several differences between the chains’ retail footprints and the regions from which they command traffic.
Despite prevailing headwinds, the home improvement space may be gearing up for a seasonal boost, particularly if consumers feel a little wiggle room in their budgets or decide to take on bigger projects in anticipation of price hikes and supply constraints.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit Placer.ai.
If 2025 proved anything, it’s that the American consumer hasn’t stopped spending – they’ve just become incredibly selective about who earns their dollar. As we look toward 2026, success isn't just about weathering headwinds; it's about identifying the specific operational levers that drive traffic.
We analyzed the data to identify ten retail and dining standouts (presented in no particular order) that are especially well-positioned for the year ahead. From grocery icons mastering hyper-authenticity to fitness challengers proving that low price doesn't mean low quality, these companies have demonstrated a powerful understanding of their audience and the operational agility to meet them where they are.
Here – in no particular order – are the brands setting the pace for 2026.
When we pick retailers for our Ten Top list, there are some that rest on the edgier side and others that look fairly down the middle. Picking H-E-B, a grocer that has seen monthly visits up year over year (YoY) for all but one month since April of 2021, is clearly not one of the bolder claims. But consistent success shouldn’t preclude a retailer from receiving its well deserved kudos, and there are some unique reasons that H-E-B specifically needs to be included this year.
H-E-B exemplifies the single most important trend in retail: the need for a brand to have authenticity and a clear reason for being. The retailer understands its audience, and as a result, it’s able to optimize its merchandising, promotions, and experience to best serve that loyal customer base. This pops in the data when we see the loyalty H-E-B commands, especially when compared to the grocery average.
In addition, the chain has also embraced adjacent innovation, leveraging its existing fleet by adding True Texas BBQ to a growing number of locations. The offering not only helps maximize the revenue potential of each visit, it taps into the core identity of the brand, further deepening customer connection and authenticity. The strategy also signals H-E-B’s understanding of emerging consumer behaviors – particularly the increase in shoppers turning to grocery stores for affordable, restaurant-quality lunches. And this combination of expanding revenue channels while heightening H-E-B’s uniqueness should also carry over into the value and impact of its retail media network.
In short, H-E-B has not only identified a critical route to success, it continues to embrace channels that widen revenue potential while doubling down on foundational strengths.
In 2024, Michaels held nearly 32.0% of overall visit share among the top four retailers in the wider crafts and hobby space. By the second half of 2025, that number had skyrocketed to just over 40.0% – driven largely by the closures of key competitors JoAnn Fabrics and Party City.
And it isn’t just that the removal of competitors is increasing the share of overall visits; the rate of capture appears to be accelerating. In Q2 2025, visits rose 7.3% YoY as Michaels began absorbing traffic from Party City, which closed the bulk of its locations by March. Growth strengthened further in Q3, with visits up 13.1% YoY following the completion of JoAnn’s shutdown in May. But during the all-important Q4, traffic surged even higher YoY, suggesting that that consolidation alone doesn’t fully explain the gains.
While the tailwinds of competitor closures clearly help, there are other strategies that are helping the retailer maximize this wave. Whether it be NFL partnerships to boost the retailer’s Sunday role in American households, a push into the framing space with 10-minute custom framing, the addition of JoAnn’s branded merchandise to its offerings, or even a challenge to Etsy’s online dominance with a new marketplace – Michaels is making moves to take full advantage of their improved positioning. There is also an argument to be made that Michaels is the retailer best poised to benefit from the segment’s consolidation, given that it is also the most oriented to a higher income consumer among top players in the category. This could help unlock other more focused concepts and promotions, and better align with an audience now looking for a retail replacement.
Walmart is the dominant player in physical retail.
And they leverage this position to push forward new offerings that extend revenue potential while maximizing per-store impact. They are a pioneer in the retail media space and have been using their unique reach to push that side of the business forward. Add to that the fact that they have been among the savviest players in all of retail in identifying the ideal approach to omnichannel, utilizing their massive physical footprint to improve their reach via BOPIS and store-fulfilled e-commerce.
All good reasons for inclusion, right?
But, here’s the kicker - from a pure visit perspective, things are going from good to better. Between January and September 2025, Walmart visits were essentially flat year over year – a good position for a retailer with such a massive reach and such strength shown in recent years. Yet, since October, visits have actually been on the rise, with Q4 2025 showing a 2.5% YoY traffic increase and several weeks exceeding 4.0% YoY.
A retail giant with even more potential growth than we might have expected – and one that’s pushing the very strategies we believe are the key to future success? That’s certainly a reason for inclusion.
Including a department store again on this year’s list? It seems counterintuitive to many of the narratives that ran through 2025, especially as middle-class consumers continue to be squeezed financially. However, Dillard’s still appears to be an exception to the rule, with performance more closely aligned to that of luxury department store brands like Bloomingdales & Nordstrom than to its true competitive set.
In 2025, visitation to Dillard’s was essentially flat YoY – though the chain has consistently outperformed the wider department store category. Dillard’s stands at a unique point somewhere between a mid-tier and luxury department store, and that distinction may be its secret to success. The retailer continues to wow with strong private label offerings that rival and often exceed national brands, a diverse merchandise mix, and locations that often benefit from indoor mall traffic trends.
While Dillard’s lags behind the wider department store category, for example, in terms of repeat visitation and the share of wealthy visitors, these factors may actually create an advantage. Efforts by Dillard's to refresh its product mix through limited-edition capsule collections and new brand launches may be helping it attract a steady inflow of economically diverse new shoppers. And the ability to continually win over new segments without alienating a “core customer” could be a strength amid economic headwinds and waning consumer sentiment.
At the same time, a more diverse visitor profile means that Dillard’s can truly be the department store for many consumers, with a product range that strikes a chord with different shopper segments.
Department stores truly aren’t dead, and those who have found their reason to exist continue to garner attention with shoppers.
If the retail industry had a symbol for 2025, it was probably Labubu. The toy-and-collectible-turned–bag charm took consumers by storm in the second quarter of the year, and POP MART – the retailer responsible for bringing Labubus stateside – quickly became an overnight sensation. Visits to the chain surged over the summer at the height of the craze, while trade areas expanded as customers traveled significant distances to get their hands on a doll.
And although the frenzy cooled somewhat in early fall, visits to POP MART locations like the one in Tulalip, WA began trending upward once again in November 2025 as the holiday season approached, surging even higher in December. Trade area size also increased dramatically during the holiday shopping period, as consumers rushed to get their hands on the chain’s coveted line of festive blind boxes.
As demonstrated by the recent Starbucks Bearista craze, consumers are all-in on cool collectible items that make life more fun – a trend POP MART, strategically located in high-traffic malls popular with younger shoppers, is uniquely positioned to ride. During times of economic uncertainty, consumers crave small ways to indulge, and affordable collectibles that are cute, cuddly, and fun have worked their way into the American zeitgeist.
So, what is next for POP MART? Can it continue to sustain its momentum? It seems likely that Labubus are here to stay, at least for a little while longer, before the retailer hopefully strikes it big with the next “must have”.
When all is said and done, 2021-2025 will likely be viewed as a pivotal turning point for the U.S. coffee industry. As the country recovered from the pandemic, consumer interaction with coffee brands fundamentally shifted. With more employees working from home – bypassing the traditional pre-work coffee run – visit trends migrated to later in the morning and afternoon. Meanwhile, industry-wide dwell times shortened as consumers renewed their focus on convenience.
This move away from the sit-down café experience placed significant pressure on industry leaders, accelerating the shift toward drive-thru and mobile order-and-pay options. This moment of friction also created space for drive-thru-centric challengers like Dutch Bros, which rapidly expanded on the strength of speed and menu innovation.
Among these challengers, 7 Brew stands out as a fast-rising powerhouse heading into 2026. Expanding outward from its Arkansas roots, 7 Brew has been strategic about market entry and site selection for its unique double-drive-thru format. And with a concept that resonates with younger demographics and a footprint adaptable to various geographies, the coffee chain has become a go-to destination for rural and small-town communities, while also maintaining solid reach among more traditional coffee segments like wealthy suburbanites and urban singles. Thanks in part to this broad appeal, 7 Brew is well-positioned for future growth, even as it faces stiffer competition in new markets.
It is no secret that most of the growth in the QSR space over the past two decades has been driven by chicken concepts. Chick-fil-A, rising from a regional chain to a national player throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, was the first to disrupt the burger’s stranglehold on QSR. Raising Cane’s followed in the 2010s with a model built on menu simplicity and operational excellence, earning its place as one of the largest chains in the category. More recently, hot chicken has emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments – and Dave’s Hot Chicken is leading the charge.
No single factor accounts for Dave’s growth from a lone unit in Los Angeles to over 350 units today. Certainly, a wide assortment of sauces and flavor profiles has resonated with U.S. consumers who are increasingly seeking spicier products, while Dave’s 'rebel' brand positioning has successfully attracted younger audiences. And at a time when many QSR and fast-casual chains are abandoning urban locations in favor of suburban markets, Dave’s Hot Chicken continues to open predominantly in urban settings – a strategy that may prove advantageous as migration patterns shift back toward major cities this year.
With so much of the industry’s expansion driven by chicken concepts, it is natural to ask: Have we reached 'peak chicken'? While we are certainly seeing other categories gain traction – think CAVA – Dave’s unique product mix and edgier marketing should help it stand out, even amidst increased competition.
While many discretionary retail categories – including consumer electronics, sporting goods, home improvement, and furniture – are still waiting for post-pandemic demand to recover, housewares retailers have generally enjoyed solid visit trends in 2025. Although consumers may not be financially positioned for large-scale remodels, we are now five years past the pandemic, and many residents (many of whom still work from home) are looking to refresh their living spaces.
It may therefore come as no surprise that TJX Companies’ HomeGoods and Homesense brands had an exceptional 2025 and are well-positioned to repeat this success in 2026.
This year, we observed a behavioral shift among middle-income consumers, including a clear “trade down” from mid-tier department stores and other discretionary categories. In addition, accumulated housing wear-and-tear, the recent bankruptcies of value-oriented competitors such as Conn’s and At Home, and the enduring appeal of the treasure hunt retail model, have all reinforced the brands’ momentum. Taken together, these trends leave HomeGoods and Homesense poised for both continued unit growth and increased traffic in the year ahead.
With the heightened emphasis on health and wellness post-pandemic, fitness is proving to be a category with remarkable staying power well beyond New Year’s resolution season – even in an era of macroeconomic uncertainty. Whether it’s pumping iron, hitting the treadmill, or joining fitness classes, staying healthy no longer requires breaking the bank – for just a dollar a day or less, gymgoers can build strength and endurance, achieve their rep goals, and hit their mileage targets. And affordable fitness chains – those that charge less than $30 per month – are reaping the benefits, outperforming more expensive gyms for YoY visit growth.
Among this value-oriented fitness cohort, EōS saw outsized traffic growth in 2025, with both overall visits and average visits per location outpacing competitors as the chain expands its footprint. EōS’s motto, “High Value, Low Price,” appears to be resonating strongly – especially in a year when similar value propositions are driving momentum across off-price retailers, value grocers, and dollar stores. Longer-than-average dwell times at EōS provide another encouraging signal, suggesting that its amenities, including pools, saunas, basketball courts, and equipment assortments typically found in higher-priced gyms, are truly connecting with visitors. And since visitors who stay longer are more likely to return – and to renew their memberships – EōS is well-positioned to convert this year’s traffic gains into lasting market share.
Eating and entertainment are a match made in heaven — and by leaning into a subscription model that meets price-sensitive customers where they are, Chuck E. Cheese has solidified its position as a standout in the eatertainment category.
Nearly 50 years old, this evergreen children’s entertainment concept has stood the test of time and now boasts roughly 500 venues nationwide. Its perennial tagline – “where a kid can be a kid” – still resonates with today’s children and with the parents who grew up with the brand. After languishing for several years in the wake of COVID, the company turned things around with a revamped Summer Fun Pass launched on April 30th, 2024. The offer of unlimited play per month sparked a dramatic boost in customer loyalty, and the model proved so successful that the company extended it year-round with a family pass as low as $7.99 per month.
This strategy has helped sustain visit growth throughout 2025. Despite closing several locations during the year, visits to Chuck E. Cheese rose 8.3% YoY – well above the flat eatertainment average. And the company’s loyalty rates outpaced last year from August through November, indicating that the offering isn’t losing steam and that customers continue to respond enthusiastically.
The diversity of brands featured in this report highlights that there is no single path to success in 2026.
H-E-B and Chuck E. Cheese demonstrate the power of deepening loyalty through authentic experiences and value-driven memberships. Michaels and HomeGoods show how savvy retailers can capitalize on competitor consolidation and changing consumer spending habits. Meanwhile, Walmart and 7 Brew prove that even in saturated markets, operational innovation can drive fresh momentum.
As we move deeper into 2026, the brands that win will be those that, like the ten profiled here, combine a clear understanding of their unique value proposition with the agility to execute on it.
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Coffee’s success in 2025 offers several key lessons for dining operators across categories:
1. Strategic expansion into under-penetrated regions can supercharge growth. YoY visits to coffee chains are growing fastest in areas of the Southeast and Sunbelt where the category still accounts for a relatively low share of dining visits.
2. Pairing craveable products with genuinely human, personalized service can build durable loyalty. Aroma Joe’s proves that when standout offerings are combined with warm, consistent personal touches, brands can create habit loops that drive repeat visits even in crowded markets.
3. Prioritizing hyper-efficient convenience models can unlock meaningful growth. Scooter’s Coffee demonstrates that fast, reliable, frictionless experiences can materially increase traffic while supporting rapid expansion.
4. Building recurring limited-time rituals can create predictable demand spikes and deepen engagement. From the annual Pumpkin Spice Latte launch to Jackpot Day, coffee chains show that ritualized promotions can “own the calendar,” generating predictable traffic spikes and deepening emotional engagement.
5. Using scarce, hype-driven offerings can generate high-impact moments that shift behavior. Starbucks’ Bearista drop illustrates how limited, buzzworthy merchandise or products can not only spike visits but also shift customer behavior, driving traffic outside typical dayparts.
6. Leveraging cultural collaborations can create excitement without relying on discounts. Dunkin’s Wicked partnership shows that tapping into moments in pop culture can deliver multi-day visit lifts comparable to major promotions – often without relying on giveaways.
Coffee has become one of the most resilient and inventive corners of the U.S. food and beverage industry. Even as consumers wrestle with higher prices and trim discretionary spending, they continue to show up for cold foam, caffeinated boosts, and treat-worthy daily indulgences.
Throughout 2025, coffee chains saw consistent year-over-year (YoY) quarterly visit growth, as brands from Starbucks to 7 Brew expanded their footprints. Crucially, per-location category-wide traffic also remained close to 2024 levels throughout most of the year before trending upward heading into the holiday season – showing that this expansion has not diluted demand at existing coffee shop locations.
What’s fueling coffee’s ongoing momentum? Which strategies are helping leading chains accelerate despite this year’s headwinds? And what can operators across dining categories learn from coffee’s success?
This white paper dives into the data to reveal the strategies behind coffee’s standout performance – and how they can help dining concepts across segments succeed in 2026.
Analyzing market-level (DMA) dining traffic data reveals that coffee chains are prioritizing growth in markets with lighter competition – and this formula is paying off.
In the graphic below, the top map shows the share of dining visits commanded by coffee in each DMA, while the bottom map highlights the year-over-year (YoY) change in visits to the coffee category. Perhaps unsurprisingly, markets where coffee already commands a high share of dining visits (specifically on the West Coast and in the Northeast) are seeing the softest year-over-year performance, while DMAs with lower coffee penetration are delivering the strongest visit growth.
In other words, traditional coffee markets such as Northwestern metros– where competition is high and incremental gains are harder to capture – are no longer the primary engines of category momentum. Instead, coffee visits are growing fastest across the Southeast, Sun Belt, and Texas – regions where branded coffee still represents a relatively small share of dining visits. Operators across dining segments can learn from coffee's approach and identify markets with low category penetration to lean into those whitespace opportunities.
But geography is only part of the story. And the coffee segment shows that a strong concept that delivers on fundamentals – great products and exceptional service – can thrive even in tougher coffee markets such as the northeast.
The experience of expanding Northeastern chain Aroma Joe’s shows how pairing craveable beverages with an unusually personal service model can drive visit growth even in relatively hard-to-break-into regions.
Aroma Joe’s, a rapidly-expanding coffee chain headquartered in Maine, with over 125 locations, has become something of a local obsession: Customers rave about the chain’s addictive signature beverages – as well as the feel-good atmosphere cultivated by its warm, friendly staff. And this combination of human touch and product quality creates a powerful habit loop: In October 2025, nearly one quarter of visitors to Aroma Joe’s stopped at the chain at least four times during the month – a much higher loyalty rate than that seen by other leading coffee brands.
The takeaway: Craveable products paired with exceptional service can create a scalable loyalty engine.
Another key differentiator for the coffee sector is convenience. Drive-thrus have become ubiquitous across the category, with many of the fastest-growing upstarts embracing drive-thru only models and legacy leaders also leaning more heavily into the format.
Scooter’s Coffee – named for its core promise to help customers “scoot” in and out quickly – exemplifies this advantage. In Q3 2025, the chain posted a 3.1% YoY increase in average visits per location, even as it continued to scale its footprint. And its customers averaged a dwell time of just 7.3 minutes – significantly lower than other leading coffee chains, including other drive-thru-forward peers.
By delivering consistently quick experiences without compromising quality, Scooter’s has emerged as a traffic leader in the coffee space – demonstrating the power of efficiency to drive demand.
No category has mastered the “event-ization” of the menu quite like coffee – and few brands own the category’s calendar as effectively as Starbucks. The annual return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte has become a cultural milestone that marks the unofficial start of fall for millions, driving double-digit visit spikes and shaping seasonal traffic patterns.
And the importance of the event only continues to grow. On August 26th, 2025, PSL day drove a 19.5% spike in traffic compared to the prior ten-week average – a higher relative spike than that seen in 2024 or 2023.
But this playbook isn’t reserved for mega-brands. 7 Brew’s monthly Jackpot Day, held on the 7th of each month, shows how recurring promotions can also build anticipation and deliver repeatable traffic lifts for up-and-coming concepts.
Beginning in August 2025, Jackpot Day shifted from a limited “Jackpot Hour” to an all-day activation. That month’s offer – two medium drinks for $8 plus a Kindness wristband – generated a 47.1% lift versus an average Thursday. And in subsequent months, giveaways ranging from tote bags to footballs kept the excitement going, sustaining elevated visits each time the 7th rolled around.
These rituals create emotional consistency: Customers know when to expect something special and plan around it. Dining chains beyond the coffee space can also create dependable spikes in traffic by implementing recurring, ritualized LTOs that create an emotional calendar and keep customers engaged.
Offering recurring LTOs is one way to keep customers consistently engaged. But one-time, limited-edition merch drops can create even bigger visit surges. Starbucks’ much-hyped “Bearista” launch this November is a prime example: Customers lined up nationwide for the chance to buy – not receive – an adorable, limited-edition, bear-shaped reusable cup. And despite its hefty $30 price tag, the merch drop drove a massive nationwide visit spike, making it the chain’s biggest sales day ever and fueling additional momentum leading into Red Cup Day.
And location data shows that this kind of hype-driven, scarce merchandise can shift not just visitor volume but daypart behavior. Visits surged as early as 4:00 AM as FOMO-driven customers showed up at the crack of dawn to secure a bear. And the shift toward early morning visits (though not quite as early) continued the following day as stores quickly ran out of stock.
Starbucks' Bearista frenzy suggests that scarcity isn’t just a retail tactic – it’s a powerful behavioral trigger that restaurants can harness as well. Limited-run items, exclusive merch drops, or time-bound specials can generate excitement, pull visits forward, and reshape daypart patterns in ways traditional promotions rarely do.
Cultural tie-ins add another accelerant. In November, Dunkin’ launched its Wicked collaboration alongside its holiday menu, generating a significant multi-day traffic spike – achieved, like Bearista, without giveaways. The event leaned on playful thematic branding, seasonal flavors, and limited-run items that tapped into Wicked fandom.
Dunkin's Wicked surge shows that when executed well, cultural relevance can also significantly move the needle. Other dining segments may also lean into thoughtful collabs to create outsized excitement and traffic lift – even without deep discounts or free offers.
The coffee sector’s 2025 performance offers a blueprint for dining success: Chains are expanding smartly into underpenetrated regions, successfully implementing both hyper-efficient and hyper-personal service models, using recurring LTOs to build seasonal and monthly rituals, and leveraging merch and pop culture partnerships to reshape demand.
Together, these strategies provide a practical playbook for dining brands to increase visit frequency, deepen customer commitment, and capture new growth opportunities in 2026 and beyond.
Five metros from across the United States stand out for consumer momentum going into 2026: Salt Lake City (UT), Reno (NV), Indianapolis (IN), Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (FL), and Raleigh-Durham (NC). All five metro areas saw their populations increase by more than the average U.S. metro between 2023 and 2024, and year-over-year (YoY) retail and dining traffic trends outpaced the nationwide average.
Utah is one of the fastest-growing states in the U.S. The state’s population has grown steadily for more than two decades with unemployment remaining consistently below the nationwide average, with one of the youngest workforces in the country. According to some analysts, the median household income in Utah, when adjusted for cost of living, is the highest in the nation.
All of this positions Salt Lake City – the state’s capital – as a particularly attractive market heading into 2026. Location analytics show year-over-year increases in foot traffic across many neighborhoods, from established retail hubs like Sugar House and Downtown SLC to the more mixed-use Central City and primarily residential areas such as The Avenues and East Bench. The city also serves as a gateway to a diverse mix of audiences, attracting younger residents and commuters as well as affluent families who come into the city to shop, dine, and enjoy local attractions.
Salt Lake City’s diversity in age and household composition as well as Utah's strong homeownership culture – even among younger cohorts – creates opportunities for retail and dining chains across categories. Home-forward concepts are particularly poised to outperform, as shown by recent location analytics. Traffic to furniture & home furnishing chains increased 7.4% YoY in the Salt Lake City DMA compared to a 2.5% increase nationwide, and grocery stores and home improvement retailers outperformed in the market as well. These trends point to a solid market for retailers tied to home life – from furniture and décor to everyday grocery needs –driven not only by steady population growth and household spending, but also by a local culture that places strong emphasis on family and the home.
While Salt Lake City continues to build on its strong foundation, another Western city is quietly gaining momentum. Reno, Nevada, which is often viewed as a regional gaming-town, is increasingly emerging as a dynamic travel destination in its own right.
In 2024 Washoe County (including the city of Reno) welcomed approximately 3.8 million visitors whose spending of about $3.4 billion generated a total economic impact of $5.2 billion. This growth signals a robust visitor-economy that supports roughly 43,800 jobs and generates over $420 million in state and local tax revenue.
What makes this particularly compelling is that while Las Vegas, Nevada is facing mounting pressures from increasing costs, the Reno-Tahoe region is showing stronger resilience thanks in part to a drive-market model and diversified appeal. Analyzing the traffic data shows that visits from non-residents, and non-employees to downtown Reno have increased YoY for the past three years. And though Reno may be thought of as a vacation spot for older Gen X and Baby Boomer vacationers, the data also indicates that Singles & Starters –"young singles starting out and some starter families living a city lifestyle" – make up an increasingly large share of Reno's visitor base.
This generational diversification carries important implications for both retail and real estate investment. As younger visitors drive up spending in food, entertainment, and shopping centers, the market is poised for renewed urban energy – fueling redevelopment across downtown corridors and mixed-use projects. With strategic public–private investments and an expanding visitor economy, Reno stands out as a market to watch in 2026, combining strong fundamentals with emerging demographic momentum.
The Midwest also contains several metro areas on the rise. Large-scale manufacturing projects like Intel’s $20 billion chip plants and Honda and LG Energy Solution’s EV battery facility are spurring housing and retail expansion around Columbus, Ohio. Kansas City, Missouri, is benefiting from logistics growth and projected tourism growth linked to its role as a FIFA World Cup 2026 host city. And Madison, Wisconsin, is seeing steady consumer growth is supported by its diverse tech and biotech economy.
But Indianapolis, Indiana tops the charts in terms of YoY overall retail visit growth between May and October 2025 (+4.3%, see first chart). And much of the consumer traffic in the Indianapolis DMA consists of suburban and rural households – precisely the segments that many retailers are now trying to woo.
Family-friendly retailers and dining chains are particularly well positioned to thrive in Indiana heading into 2026. Indianapolis has some of the best job prospects and most affordable home prices in the country – and its favorable salary to cost of living ratio likely allows many families to have leftover income left over for discretionary spending.
Recent data shows that a range of family-oriented brands – from Chili’s and Marshall’s to Kroger – have outperformed in Indianapolis over the past six months. The city’s growing middle-income population and its suburban, family-focused consumer base appear to be fueling stronger in-person spending, particularly at convenient, affordable, and community-oriented retail and dining destinations.
Moving east to North Carolina brings several additional growing metros into focus, including Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, and Charlotte. But Raleigh rises above the pack with its powerful combination of job growth, steady in-migration, and a well-balanced, diversified economy.
All this is leading to YoY increases in total traffic within the Raleigh-Durham, NC DMA, driven in part by major firms – including entrants in finance and life-sciences – continuing to expand operations in the area. The city of Raleigh also has relatively low median age and relatively high median household income. This combination of robust job creation, wage gains, and a growing pool of young, high-spending residents positions Raleigh as one of the most dynamic consumer markets in the Southeast heading into 2026.
Raleigh's consumer growth potential is particularly stark when looking at performance of major mixed-use developments across the region. Foot traffic at leading projects such as Smoky Hollow, the Main District at North Hills Street, and Fenton in Cary has climbed sharply.
The data also shows that these destinations attract a disproportionately high share of wealthy singles and one-person households – a demographic with strong discretionary spending power. Together, these trends point to a deepening base of urban, high-income consumers fueling growth in dining, retail, and entertainment – making Raleigh one of the country's most dynamic and opportunity-rich metro areas heading into 2026.
In the Southeast, Tampa is one of the nation’s standout metro areas heading into 2026. Strong fundamentals – such as no state income tax and expanding employment in sectors like technology, healthcare, and logistics – have attracted a significant influx of Gen Z and millennial residents. And although in-migration is beginning to slow somewhat, the city's expanding economy and youthful talent base continue to fuel growth across housing, retail, and dining.
And as more companies require employees to spend additional days in the office, YoY commuter traffic has increased across Tampa’s major cities. Leisure visits from non-residents are also on the rise, suggesting that retailers and dining chains seeking to capture this expanding market could benefit from growing their presence throughout the Tampa metro area.
Rising traffic across Tampa’s major urban areas appears to be translating into stronger dining activity as well. Over the past six months, average YoY visits to Tampa area full-service restaurants, coffee shops, and fast-casual chains have all exceeded the national average, which may reflect a broader acceleration in both local workforce and leisure-visitor demand.
