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One of the hallmarks of Americana is the image of a biker riding fast and free down enormous expanses of American highways. For tens of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts, nothing compares to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota. In 2025, the event took place between August 1st and August 10th – and the week and a half of food, folks, and festivities drove a massive spike in out-of-market visitors to Sturgis.
Saturday, August 2, was the most popular day of visits, with visits up 14.7% compared to the prior year and up a whopping +549.9% compared to an average Saturday in Sturgis.
One popular place to visit within Sturgis is Lynn’s Dakotamart on Lazelle St, where one can find groceries ranging from NY strip steaks to fresh Midwest watermelon. During the Sturgis motorcycle rally, the store's trade area more than doubled from 15 miles to 33 miles.
Large events like the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally can also hold much promise for brands, as they seek to capture attention from motorcycle devotees. Placer.ai data shows that some of the top-visited places during the 10 days in August include Wells Fargo, McDonald’s, Burger King, Dairy King, Ace Hardware, and restaurant/live venues such as Loud American. The rally also brings an influx of affluent suburban visitors, with nearly 1 in 5 out-of-town visitors with a household income greater than $150K, and 13.4% belonging to the "Wealthy Suburban Families" Spatial.ai segment.
In sum, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is a unique opportunity for local businesses and local and national brands to capitalize on the excitement and celebratory frame of mind of the out-of-town visitors. Many of the guests come with the mindset to enjoy themselves, mingle with others, stay in local lodgings, and even visit shopping centers and eateries that would normally seem a bit further afield but that in the context of riding are just part of the journey itself.
For more data-driven consumer insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
It’s been a wild ride for the beauty category. Following a strong couple of years, the segment's growth has stalled in recent months, with clothing – led by the strong performance of off-price chains – taking over the top discretionary growth spot. The slowdown in the beauty space has led some to wonder whether the category's boost from the "lipstick-effect" has reached a ceiling.
However, there are a few niches within the beauty category that may portend success, including Korean Beauty (aka K-Beauty), as well as brands focusing on personalization and sustainability.
First up, K-Beauty. Every summer, there is a song or movie that takes over the charts and goes viral. This summer, it is the unstoppable juggernaut from Netflix K-Pop Demon Hunters. Viewers and listeners around the world just can’t shake the catchy tunes like Soda Pop and the powerful anthem Golden. This animated feature is breaking records left and right: Netflix’s most-watched original animated film, first Netflix film ever to reach a new viewing peak in its fifth week of release showing the power of word of mouth, and the film’s lead single, “Golden,” sung by the girl group Huntrix (EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami), hit No. 1 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs on July 8th.
K-Pop has already been quite popular in the US for quite some time, with headliners like Blackpink and BTS drawing record crowds. Korean shows like Squid Game have also riveted viewers. And one of the most recent beauty trends on TikTok involves Korean beauty strategies to attain “glass skin.” Key ingredients in K-Beauty such as snail mucin in the holy grail product CosRX, green tea antioxidants, or ginseng have already made their way into many Americans’ daily skincare routines.
With all this recent interest in Korean culture, Ulta is one retailer perfectly poised to introduce its curated selection of K-beauty brands.
In mid-July, the company launched K-Beauty World, which introduces American consumers to a host of K-beauty brands, such as Chasin’ Rabbits, I’m From, Mixsoon, NEOGEN, Rom&nd, Some By Mi, Sungboon Editor and Unleashia. K-Beauty World had an immersive multi-city tour earlier this year including Westfield Century City in Los Angeles, SXSW in Austin, Revolve at Coachella, and Lollapalooza in Chicago. And since the launch, Ulta has drawn longer visits and a higher share of singles to its stores.
Personalization is another big buzzword in the beauty world. With over a dozen stores across the US and Canada, Lip Lab is one beauty chain that allows patrons to customize their products (lipstick, gloss, balm or cheek stick), pick their perfect shade, select a case, add a scent, and engrave the name of their creation. In the case of Lip Lab at Scottsdale Quarter, Spatial.ai’s PersonaLive's dataset shows that this tenant helps to attract Wealthy Suburban Families and Young Urban Singles to a shopping center that otherwise skews a bit older – usually, Sunset Boomers make up over one-fifth of Scottsdale Quarter's shoppers.
In sum, beauty is ever-changing and consumers can be quite fickle. What was once a must-have brand with tweens or a sold-out item on BeautyTok can quickly become yesterday’s news. However, for the year ahead, we do think that K-beauty and personalization can help brands burst through the zeitgeist to capture consumers’ attention.
For more data-driven consumer insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
Although headlines often highlight a decline in alcohol consumption – particularly among younger generations – the data paints a more nuanced picture, with liquor store traffic remaining well above pre-pandemic baselines. So how has BevAlc consumer behavior changed since 2019? And where is traffic still growing year-over-year? We dove into the data to find out.
As shown in the left-hand chart below, visits to BevAlc chains skyrocketed since 2018, with traffic hovering 40 to 60% above Q1 ’19 – a significantly larger increase than that seen in the wider grocery sector as a whole. But the year-over-year growth has largely flattened, as seen in the right-hand chart, with overall grocery traffic now seeing higher year-over-year growth in H1 2025.
Taken together, these two charts suggest that BevAlc remains a core part of consumers' shopping mix – even if the explosive, pandemic-era acceleration has stabilized into a new normal.
And although BevAlc visits nationwide have flattened, visitation data highlights regional pockets of BevAlc growth. Florida metros such as Port St. Lucie, Sebastian–Vero Beach, and Homosassa Springs posted some of the strongest year-over-year gains, supported by population inflows and steady tourism activity. Similar momentum appeared in select Southern markets, including parts of Texas and the Carolinas.
Meanwhile, many Northeastern and West Coast markets experienced steady pullbacks. Pennsylvania metros like Sunbury, Johnstown, and Erie registered consistent declines, while California hubs including Sacramento, Modesto, and Stockton saw negative traffic trends as well.
This divergence suggests that national averages mask meaningful local variation: while consumers overall are steady in their liquor purchases, certain regions are emerging as growth hubs while others cool.
The opportunity in BevAlc retail now isn't in chasing broad national growth, but in aligning with regional demand dynamics. In Florida and Texas, where visitation is climbing, retailers can lean into assortment expansion, premium products, and in-store promotions to capture incremental spend. In slower markets like California and the Northeast, focusing on loyalty programs, distribution through grocery stores, and smaller format stores that emphasize convenience and value might yield better results.
For more data-driven consumer insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
It’s that time again. The time where I share my thoughts on everything I think I think about retail...at this very moment.
Over the first nine months of 2025, we have witnessed some pretty darn amazing things across the retail industry. We've witnessed traditional competitive boundaries blur as some large scale grocery players (at least, one that is one and one that wants to be one) venture into same-day delivery logistics, we’ve seen warehouse clubs reimagine convenience, and we have also had more than one retailer experiment with what the right size of its store footprint should be.
What emerges from this chaos is a revalidation of what omnichannel retailing really is. It is about the reimagining of how consumers shop, where they shop, and why they choose to shop one retailer over another.
Therefore, the following observations represent not just trends to watch, but strategic inflection points that could determine which retailers will have the greatest probability to thrive going forward in this beautiful and increasingly complex omnichannel world.
In Q2 2025, Walmart delivered comparable sales growth of +4.5% (excluding fuel), driven largely by profitable e-commerce, and maintained stable store traffic. Monthly same-store visits, according to Placer.ai, were also remarkably steady between +0.7% and -1.8%, from May through August, amid industry-wide macroeconomic pressures.
Meanwhile, the other U.S. retailing behemoth, Amazon, began pushing (or is it forcing?) its way into grocery in August by way of same-day delivery. Walmart, on the flip side, and not to be outdone, also began putting significant resources behind its Walmart Fulfillment Services offering.
All told, it is a game of anything you can do, I can do better. It is one-upmanship at its finest.
The only question is – who stands the better chance of winning? Or at least drawing blood from the other?
From my vantage point, Walmart has a much better chance of holding onto its grocery reign because it already is a grocer, and quite a large one at that – drawing nearly half as many visits as the entire brick-and-mortar grocery category. Walmart’s 4,600+ store advantage is sizable. Amazon may take from others but the moat around Walmart is pretty large.
On the other hand, will Amazon keep a similar hold on its vendor logistics business?
If I were a betting man, Walmart has a better chance of making inroads on Amazon’s logistics revenue than Amazon has on hurting Walmart in grocery.
Said another way, I guess the box may soon be on the other porch, Amazon.
The size of one’s store base is dependent upon so many factors.
Location, the overall experience design, the ROI of “the box,” and more can all impact the size and shape of a retailer’s store base, and, more often than not, all of them actually work in concert together. Which is why anyone pontificating on the trend in the “size” of stores likely hasn’t put much thought into his or her argument.
Despite the recent run-up of retailers trying to get smaller (Macy’s, in particular, comes to mind), there is no tried-and-true rule that smaller stores will work or vice versa.
In some cases, like in dense or urban markets, smaller stores might work, while in others, if the approach is one of creating destination-type stores, like Hy-Vee or Buc-ees, larger stores might work, too.
My favorite example of someone “getting smaller” is Sprouts. As Sprouts CEO Jack Sinclair told me at Groceryshop, Sprouts realized its format had gotten too large, went back to its roots of differentiated products and great looking fresh produce in a smaller box, and has not looked back since.
At the end of the day – smaller, bigger, uncut – none of it matters as much as what your brand is trying to accomplish for your customers and what, in turn, resonates with them the most.
I think we can all agree that, generally speaking, Walmart and the warehouse clubs are noted for having great prices. On the flip side, what they haven’t been known as much for in the past is a quick and convenient shopping experience.
But that is about to change for two reasons.
The first is economics. There is always a trade-off between convenience and price. As budgets continue to get constrained, people will begin to trade off waiting in lines or navigating the dreaded Costco parking lot to save money.
The second is the evolution of these retailers as omnichannel retailers. For example, Walmart’s Chief E-Commerce Officer David Guggina told me recently that one-third of Walmart’s scheduled deliveries are delivered to Walmart customers in under three hours (see video of interview). This behavior itself gives rise to the theory that people are starting to leverage Walmart for quick trips.
Delivery is only one leg of the omnichannel stool, however.
The other two legs are buy online, pickup in-store (BOPIS) and the actual speed of the in-store experience itself. Much has been documented already about the rise of BOPIS following the pandemic, so I won’t belabor the point here because it, too, is likely driving the data below.
The other aspect is that places like Sam’s Club have done a masterful job of making their stores more convenient and time-efficient. Sam’s Club is leading the way on cashierless checkout in the club channel. Sam’s Club Scan & Go shoppers, which account for an amazing one-third of the Sam’s Club customer base, can simply walk through an AI-powered exit arch and then have a digital receipt sent to them upon exit.
Allow me to take a moment to put this last statement into perspective with a concrete example.
Pretend my wife calls me on my way home from work and asks me to pick up some milk. I have a choice: Do I go to the local grocer or do I go to Sam’s? If I decide to go local, I likely will end up paying more ,and I could also possibly have to wait in line to check out at either a manned till or a self-checkout machine. On the other hand, if I go to Sam’s Club, I can just walk in, scan the milk I want, pay at a paystation and then walk through the arch.
Which experience would you choose?
Enough said.
The number one answer any retailer needs to answer in today’s omnichannel world is, “Why come to my store in the first place.”
And that answer begins and ends with good merchandising.
Take a look at some of the more creative merchandising efforts this year as depicted in the graph below:
What they all have in common is a “hook.” Someone got creative and went outside of the box to compel customers into their stores for new and exciting reasons. It is the definition of good merchandising.
Therefore, retailers, convenience store operators, and QSRs can never rest on their laurels. They constantly need to push the envelope to one-up the year before and the competition.
The best merchants get supercharged by the creative demands of this challenge. The worst merchants get their answers from interpolating spreadsheets and making decisions solely off of last year’s data.
Speaking of merchandising, the convergence of technology and the increasing tendency of consumers to use supermarkets as their mid-day lunch or snack source versus QSRs could inspire a unique opportunity for those grocers adventurous enough to seize it.
I have long been a proponent of electronic shelf labels. The use cases in support of them are almost endless at this point. One of my favorite use cases is the ability to run intra-day promotions, an idea that is virtually impossible with paper price tags, and one that also gets supercharged when the component of in-store digital media screens gets added to the equation as well.
Imagine a grocer who uses electronic shelf labels and then starts running unique daily promotions at lunch time. These promotions could be done on ANYTHING:
You get the idea. It is the Venn diagram of retail media and in-store execution at its finest.
The convergence of these above trends signals a tried-and-true retail axiom, i.e. that success is determined not by what you sell per se, but by how you can integrate convenience, value, and your brand (a better word choice than experience) across every touchpoint.
And this axiom will manifest itself in a number of self-affirming, yet sizable ways.
First, as the Walmart/Amazon tête-à-tête illustrates, a single channel advantage will become almost impossible to defend. Retailers need to decide in which channels they want to speak to their customers or risk being outflanked by competitors who will. This creates both vulnerability for established players and opportunities for agile newcomers who can build omnichannel capabilities from the ground up.
Second, technology will play an even bigger role as the industry equalizer. The Sam's Club scan-and-go example is the perfect encapsulation of this idea. It shows how technology can completely flip traditional competitive dynamics. Warehouse clubs, once seen as inconvenient despite their pricing advantages, are at the tipping point of becoming more convenient (and value-laden) than traditional grocers. Retailers who boldly invest in finding new ways to use technology to flip their positioning on the convenience-value-brand spectrum stand to capture disproportionate market share, regardless of their historical positioning.
Third, merchandising is and will forever be the epicenter of retailing. As physical store differentiation becomes harder to achieve, creative merchandising becomes the primary weapon for driving foot traffic and brand loyalty. Retailers who cannot consistently surprise and delight customers with consistent in-stocks, innovative in-store displays, exciting product collaborations, and limited-time offerings will find themselves relegated to utility shopping only, which is about as big as a “Danger Will Robinson” position as there is.
As I look back on 2025, Walmart, hands down, is “winning.” Sure, it has scale. It is the biggest retailer going. But scale isn’t why Walmart is on the hot streak that it is. The real secret to Walmart’s success has been its incredible speed of adaptation, rather than the scale of its operation. Its scale only enhances the impact of successful adaptation.
That is the real punchline to the joke.
What got you here won’t get you there. The task at hand is to transform fast enough to remain relevant in a world where the rules of engagement are being rewritten all the time, by competitors both large and small.
For more data-driven insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
2025 has been a year of comebacks for legacy retailers. Brands like Barnes & Noble, Gap, and Abercrombie & Fitch are seeing renewed momentum. And amid this wave of revivals, Beyond, Inc. and The Brand House Collective (formerly Kirkland’s Inc.) are betting on one of retail’s most iconic banners: Bed Bath & Beyond (BBB).
After acquiring Kirkland’s intellectual property, Beyond Inc. plans to rebrand 250–275 Kirkland’s stores as Bed Bath & Beyond Home and close the rest. The strategy aims to merge Kirkland’s real estate footprint with the trust and recognition of BBB – once the undisputed leader in home furnishings retail. Can the pull of nostalgia and the equity of a trusted brand rewrite the trajectory of a struggling home furnishings chain?
Kirkland’s, known for accessible home décor and furnishings, has long been a staple of the home furnishings sector. Yet like many of its peers, it has grappled with headwinds from softening discretionary spending. Since 2019, overall visits to the chain have steadily declined as the company downsized its store fleet – and most months of 2025 have continued to register year-over-year (YoY) foot traffic declines. Online performance has also lagged, with digital comparable sales dropping last quarter by double digits.
Still, the data also reveals signs of underlying brick-and-mortar strength. Over the past several quarters, Kirkland’s in-store comparable sales have remained relatively stable, with some quarters seeing slight increases and others modest declines. And as illustrated by the chart below, the chain’s reduced fleet has posted modest same-store visit gains through much of this year, suggesting that the company’s remaining stores may be well-positioned for a turnaround.
Against this backdrop, plans to merge Kirkland’s real estate footprint with the trust and recognition of BBB offer significant promise. The pie chart below offers a reminder of just how influential Bed Bath & Beyond once was: In 2019, BBB accounted for nearly one-fourth of all visits to the home furnishings sector nationwide, far outpacing rivals. While the company’s bankruptcy in 2023 suggested that brand power alone couldn’t offset operational missteps, the name still carries significant weight with consumers. For Kirkland’s, this partnership could provide the spark it needs for renewed growth.
The combination of Kirkland’s streamlined fleet and BBB’s brand equity creates a compelling recipe for revival. With the right execution – balancing nostalgia with modern retail practices – this collaboration could transform a fading chain into a leader once more.
To see up-to-date retail traffic trends, visit our free tools.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
Homewares and home decor chains have seen their share of ups and downs over the past few years, from pandemic highs to a discretionary retail slowdown – but some chains, especially high-end ones, are thriving. We took a look at visit data to four retailers – Restoration Hardware (RH), Le Creuset, and Sur La Table – to see what the visit data and demographics reveal about the segment.
Homewares are having a cultural moment – a shift that first gained momentum during the pandemic, when people stuck at home began investing deeply in their living spaces. Since then, social media’s influence has helped lifestyle-forward brands like RH and Le Creuset gain cultural cachet – and visits to these retailers have significantly outpaced the broader home improvement sector, as shown in the chart below.
This resilience – especially amid a broader retail slowdown – underscores how home decor and kitchenware are evolving into status and lifestyle symbols, with culinary aesthetics even finding expression in decor trends.
Although RH, Sur La Table, and Le Creuset all compete in the premium home goods segment, their different brand identities attract distinct audiences and lead to very different in-store behaviors.
RH and Sur La Table attract some of the most affluent, luxury-oriented shoppers in retail and consistently post long dwell times. Both brands use their store fleets not just as showrooms, but as platforms for high-margin services and experiences that extend engagement and drive revenue between product cycles.
Many flagship RH stores include a fine-dining restaurant, and the chain ties complimentary design consultations to a paid annual membership – both of which may resonate with younger “Educated Urbanites” who value elevated dining experiences and expert guidance as they furnish their first homes. Sur La Table, by contrast, generates fee-based revenue from cooking classes and curated international culinary trips, offerings that appeal most to “Booming with Confidence” households – prosperous, established couples eager to invest in premium food and travel experiences. By tailoring experiential services to the distinct aspirations of their core audiences, RH and Sur La Table demonstrate how luxury retailers can extend brand relevance, and sustain growth beyond traditional product sales.
Le Creuset, by contrast, follows a more sales-driven model. With a lower share of high-income households, the brand reaches aspirational, luxury-adjacent shoppers who may have less discretionary income for premium experiences. Store activations such as Factory-to-Table events are designed primarily to drive transactions rather than prolong visits. Le Creuset also over-indexes among “Singles and Starters” – younger, upwardly mobile shoppers who frequently discover the brand on social media. This group tends to conduct heavy online research before visiting, leading to shorter, purpose-driven trips where shoppers arrive ready to buy.
Together, the patterns suggest two distinct playbooks: RH and Sur La Table use experience to lengthen visits and monetize engagement between product cycles, while Le Creuset relies on highly considered, research-led purchases that translate into shorter, purpose-driven store trips.
The success of RH, Sur La Table, and Le Creuset highlights that there is no single formula for winning in luxury retail. Some brands lean on immersive experiences that extend and monetize engagement. Others focus on sales-driven activations that convert researched shoppers. What unites them is a sharp alignment between strategy and the values and behaviors of their core audiences – a positioning that enables them to thrive even amid broader retail headwinds.
For more retail data, visit our free tools.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
New year, new retail opportunities. And though 2023 is firmly in the rearview mirror, the economic headwinds that characterized much of the year have yet to fully dissipate. But every challenge also brings with it new opportunities, and many retailers are adapting to meet their customers' changing wants and needs.
This white paper analyzes location intelligence for 10 brands poised to succeed in 2024. Some, like low-cost apparel and home furnishing stores, are benefitting from consumer trade-down. Others are expanding into rural or suburban areas to meet customers where they are. Read on for some of 2024’s retail winners.
Until around four years ago, New Balance sneakers were commonly seen on the feet of suburban dads – not exactly a recipe for high fashion. But all that began to change in 2019 when the company began collaborating with Teddy Santis, who eventually became New Balance’s creative director. Since then, the brand’s popularity has surged among Gen Z and X and is now one of the fastest-growing sneaker companies in the industry, despite the increasing competition in sneaker space. In 2023, foot traffic to New Balance stores grew 3.3% year-over-year (YoY) and the brand has firmly established itself as ultimate retro cool.
Diving into the demographics of New Balance stores’ captured market trade area reveals the success of the chain’s rebranding. In 2023, New Balance’s trade area included larger shares of “Ultra Wealthy Families,” “Young Professionals,” and “Educated Urbanites” than the average shoe store’s trade area – highlighting New Balance’s successful reinvention as a brand for the young and hip.
The home improvement space is dominated by Lowe’s and Home Depot – but Harbor Freight Tools is quickly making a name for itself as a go-to destination for affordable tools and supplies.
Over the past few years, Harbor Freight Tools has expanded rapidly, with many of its new stores opening in smaller towns and cities. And the expansion appears to be paying off, with visits up YoY during every month of 2023. And although the chain is now operating with a significantly larger store fleet, the average number of visits per venue has generally increased – indicating that the company is expanding into markets where it is meeting a ready demand.
Over a decade after Mackelmore dropped his smash hit “Thrift Shop” in 2012, second-hand stores are still enjoying their time in the limelight. Shoppers, driven by a desire to reduce waste, find unique styles, and to save a few dollars at the till, continue to flock to thrift stores. And Winmark Corporation, which operates five secondhand goods chains – including apparel brands Plato’s Closet (young adult clothes), Once Upon a Child (children's clothes and toys), and Style Encore (women's clothing) – has benefited from the strong demand. Visits to the three Winmark clothing banners increased an average of 5.3% YoY in 2023.
The median household income (HHI) in the trade areas of Winmark’s apparel chains tends to be lower than the median HHI in the wider apparel category – so budget-conscious consumers are driving at least some of the company’s growth. With more consumers looking for ways to cut back on spending in 2024, the demand for second-hand clothes is expected to grow even further – and Winmark is likely to continue reaping the benefits.
HomeGoods, a treasure hunter's dream, is the discount home furnishing retailer owned by off-price retail giant TJX Companies. The chain, which operates over 900 brick-and-mortar stores, recently closed its e-commerce platform to focus on its physical locations – where foot traffic grew 6.0% between 2023 and 2022.
HomeGoods carries kitchen and home decor items along with furniture, and may be benefiting from the relative strength of the houseware segment, driven in part by an increase in at-home entertainment. And in a surprising twist, this low-cost retailer attracts more affluent visitors than visitors to the home furnishing segment overall. The median household income (HHI) in HomeGoods’ trade area stood at $84.7K/year compared to a $78.5K median HHI in the trade area of the average home furnishing chain. As economic uncertainty and the resumption of student loan payments impact consumers, wealthier shoppers seeking a budget-friendly home refresh are likely to continue choosing HomeGoods over pricier alternatives.
Florida-based Bealls, Inc., which got its start as a small town five-and-dime in 1915 in Bradenton, Florida, now operates over 600 stores across the country. The company, which saw an impressive 9.0% YoY increase in visits in 2023, recently consolidated its two largest banners – Burkes Outlet and Bealls Outlet – under the Bealls name.
One reason for Bealls’ success could be its appeal to rural consumers. Over the past five years, the share of households falling into Spatial.ai: PersonaLive’s “Rural Average Income” segment has steadily increased, growing from 12.6% in 2019 to 15.1% in 2023. With rural shoppers continuing to command ever-more attention from retailers, the increase in visits from this segment bodes well for Bealls in 2024.
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet was built for this economy. The chain saw a 13.0% YoY increase in visits in 2023, thanks in part to its popularity among a wide array of budget-conscious consumers. Ollie’s has found success with rural shoppers while maintaining its appeal among value-oriented suburban segments – and the chain’s diverse audience base seems to be setting it apart from other discount retailers.
A closer look at the chain’s captured market data, layered with the Spatial.ai: Personalive dataset, reveals that Ollie’s trade area includes larger shares of the “Blue Collar Suburbs” and “Suburban Boomer” segments when compared to the wider Discount & Dollar Stores category. As the chain plots its expansion, focusing on suburban and rural areas may help Ollie’s meet its customers where they are.
Trader Joe’s has managed to do what few stores can. The company does not invest in marketing, has no online shopping options, and loyalty programs? Forget about it. But despite this unusual approach to running a business, the California native has enjoyed consistent success over the years, with a 12.4% YoY increase in visits in 2023.
Trader Joe’s is particularly popular among younger shoppers, perhaps thanks to the company’s focus on sustainability and social responsibility – as well as its famously low prices. Analyzing the chain’s trade area using the AGS: Panorama dataset reveals that Trader Joe’s attracts more “Emerging Leaders” and “Young Coastal Technocrats” (segments that describe highly educated young professionals) than the average grocery chain. With Gen Z particularly concerned about putting their money where their mouth is, Trader Joe’s is likely to sustain its momentum in 2024 and beyond.
Convenience stores are growing up and evolving into bona-fide dining destinations. And Foxtrot, a Chicago-based chain with 29 stores across Texas, Illinois, Washington, Maryland, and Virginia, is one c-store redefining what a convenience store can be. The chain, which announced a merger with Dom’s Kitchen in November 2023, offers an upscale convenience store experience and is particularly known for including local brands in its product assortment as well as its excellent wine curation and dining options.
Visitors to the chain were significantly more likely to fall into AGS: Behavior & Attitudes dataset’s “Wine Drinker” or “Nutritionally Aware” segments than visitors to nearby convenience stores. The company plans to ramp up store openings, particularly in the suburbs, where convenience and a good bottle of wine might just find the perfect home as a welcome distraction from the daily grind.
Jersey Mike’s is one of the fastest-growing franchise dining chains in the country, operating over 2,500 locations in all 50 states. The sandwich chain has seen its popularity take off over the past few years, with 2023 visits up 14.1% YoY and plans to open 350 new stores in 2024.
The company has long prioritized affluent class suburban customers – and visitation data layered with the Experian: Mosaic dataset reveals that Jersey Mike’s has indeed succeeded in attracting this audience. The percentage of “Booming with Confidence” and “Flourishing Families” (both affluent segments) in Jersey Mike’s trade area was larger than in the trade areas of the average sub sandwich chain. As Jersey Mike’s continues its expansion, focusing on suburban areas may continue to serve the chain well.
The East Coast may not be the first region that pops to mind when thinking about tropical smoothies – but New Jersey-based Playa Bowls is making it work. The company was founded by avid surf enthusiasts determined to bring the flavors of their favorite surfing towns stateside.
Playa Bowls has enjoyed strong visit numbers in 2023, with overall visits up 23.0% and average visits per venue up 17.1% YoY – and part of the chain’s success may be driven by its ability to draw wealthier customers to its stores. The Experian: Mosaic dataset reveals that the “Power Elite” segment is overrepresented in the company’s trade areas: The share of households falling into that segment from Playa Bowl’s captured market exceeded their share in the company’s potential market. As the chain continues expanding its domestic footprint, it seems to have found its niche among a wealthy customer base.
The past year saw a wide range of challenges facing brick-and-mortar retailers as economic fears continued to shake consumer confidence. But there are plenty of bright spots as the new year gets underway. These ten brands prove that the retail world never stands still, and that the next opportunity is just around the corner.
Sports leagues like the NBA, NFL, and MLB boast billion-dollar revenues – and the venues where these games unfold hold significant commercial potential in their own rights. Many stadiums host concerts and other shows in addition to regularly held sporting matches and can accommodate tens of thousands of spectators at once – creating massive retail, dining, and advertisement opportunities.
This white paper analyzes location intelligence metrics for some of the biggest stadiums across the country to reveal the commercial potential of these venues beyond simple ticketing revenue. Where do visitors of various stadiums like to shop? Do specific sporting and cultural events impact the nearby restaurant scene differently? How can stadium operators, local businesses, and advertisers tailor their offerings to a stadium’s particular audience and make the most of the stadium and the space throughout the year?
We take a closer look below.
The three major sports leagues – the National Basketball League (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), and the National Football League (NFL) – play at different points of the year, and the number of games each league holds during the season also varies.
MLB leads in game frequency, with each team playing 162 games during the regular season, which runs approximately from April through September. Basketball season is also around six months – roughly from mid-October to mid-April – but each NBA team plays only 82 games a season. And the NFL has both the shortest season – 18 weeks running from early September to early January (with the pre-season starting in August) – and the fewest number of matches per team. Understanding the monthly visitation patterns for the various types of stadiums can help advertisers, stadium operators, and other stakeholders ensure that they are leveraging the full potential of the venue throughout the year.
Unsurprisingly, the sports arenas serving the different leagues see visit spikes during their leagues’ respective season. But comparing visit numbers throughout the year to the average monthly visit numbers for each category in 2023 reveals that the relative visit increases and decreases during the on- and off-season vary for each type of stadium.
MLB stadiums display the steadiest visit strength during the on-season – perhaps due to MLB’s packed game schedule. MLB tickets also tend to be relatively affordable compared to tickets to pro football or basketball matches, which may also contribute to MLB’s consistently strong visit numbers throughout the season. During the MLB off-season, baseball fields – which tend to be uncovered – are relatively empty.
The seasonal visit spike to NBA arenas is less steady. The beginning and end of the season see strong peaks, and visits slow down slightly during the mid-season months of January and February. Visits then drop during the off-season spring and summer, but the off-season visit dip is not as low as it is for MLB fields – perhaps because the NBA arenas’ indoor nature make them suitable locations for concerts and other non-basketball events.
Meanwhile, NFL stadiums see the least dramatic drop in visits during the NFL off-season, as these venues’ enormous size also make them the ideal location for concerts and other cultural events that draw large crowds. These arenas’ strong almost year-round visitation numbers mean that sponsors and advertisers looking to expand beyond sports fans to reach a diverse audience may have the most success with these venues.
Although MLB offers the most budget-friendly outing, combining STI: Popstats demographic metrics with trade area data reveals that MLB stadium visitors reside in higher-income areas when compared with visitors to NBA or NFL stadiums.
Baseball fans tend to be older than fans of the other sports, which could partially explain MLB stadium visitors’ higher household income (HHI). The combination of lower ticket prices, higher median HHI among fans, and many games per season offers baseball stadiums significant opportunities to engage effectively with their fan bases.
But while NBA and NFL stadium attendees may not come from as high-income areas as do MLB stadium visitors, fans of live basketball and football still reside in trade areas with a higher HHI compared to the nationwide median. So by leveraging stadium space, advertisers and other stakeholders can reach tens of thousands of relatively high-income consumers easily and effectively.
Sports fans are known to be passionate, engaged, and willing to spend money on their team – but stadium visitors also shop for non-sports related goods and services. Retailers and advertisers can draw on location analytics to uncover the consumer preferences of stadium visitors and tailor campaigns, sponsorships, and collaborations accordingly.
Visitation data to the top five most visited MLB stadiums during 2023 showed differences between the apparel and sporting goods shopping preferences of the various stadiums’ attendees. While 39.4% of visitors to Truist Park also visited DICK’s in 2023, only 30.8% of Yankee Stadium visitors stopped by the sporting goods retailer in the same period. Similarly, while 29.9% of visitors to Yankee Stadium frequented Kohl’s, that percentage jumped to 47.3% for Busch Stadium visitors.
Harnessing location intelligence to see the consumer preferences of a stadium’s visitor base can help retailers, stadium operators, and even team managers choose partnerships and merchandising agreements that will yield the most effective results.
Sports and snacks go hand in hand – what would a baseball game be without a hot dog or peanuts? But while every stadium likely provides a similar core of traditional game day eats, each venue also offers a unique set of dining options, both on- and off-premise. And by leveraging location analytics to gain visibility into stadium-goers dining habits, stadium operators and local food businesses can understand how to best serve each arena’s audience.
Mapping where stadium visitors dine before and after games can help stakeholders in the stadium industry reach more fans.
The chart below shows the share of visitors coming to a stadium from a dining venue (on the x-axis) or going to a dining venue after visiting the stadium (on the y-axis). The data reveals a correlation between pre-stadium dining and post-stadium dining – stadiums where many guests visit dining venues before the stadium also tend to have a large share of guests going to dining venues after the event. For example, the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, saw large shares of visitors grabbing a bite to eat on their journey to or from the stadium, while the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland saw low rates of pre- and post stadium dining engagement.
These trends present opportunities for both local businesses and stadium stakeholders. For example, venues with high dining engagement can explore partnerships with local restaurants, while those with lower rates can build out their in-house dining options for hungry sports fans.
Stadiums looking to enhance their food offerings – or local entrepreneurs thinking of opening a restaurant near a stadium – can also get inspired by stadium visitors’ dining preferences. For example, psychographic data taken from the Spatial.ai: FollowGraph dataset reveals that visitors to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey have a much stronger preference for Asian cuisine compared to New Jersey residents overall. With that knowledge, the stadium can enhance the visitor experience by expanding its Asian food offerings.
On the other hand, MetLife Stadium goers seem much less partial to Brewery fare than average New Jerseyans, so the stadium operators and restaurateurs may want to avoid offering too many Brewery-themed dining options. Stadium stakeholders can reserve the craft beers for Caesars Stadium, M&T Bank Stadium, and Soldier Field Stadiums, where visitors seem to enjoy artisanal brews more than the average resident in Louisiana, Maryland, and Illinois, respectively.
All of the stadiums analyzed exhibited unique visitor dining tastes, a reminder that no customer or fan base is alike. Aligning on- or off-site dining options with offerings that align with a given customer base’s preferences can improve overall visitor satisfaction and boost revenues.
Zooming in to look at consumer behavior around individual events reveals further variability in dining preferences even among visitors to the same stadium, with different types of events driving distinct dining behaviors.
State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, is home to the Arizona Cardinals. The stadium hosted the 2023 Super Bowl, but the NFL stadium also acts as a concert venue for acts ranging from Taylor Swift to Metallica. And location intelligence reveals that the dining preferences of stadium visitors vary based on the events held at the venue.
During the Super Bowl, sports bars such as Yard House and Buffalo Wild Wings saw the largest increase in visits compared to the chains’ daily average. A month later, attendees at Taylor Swift's concert gave fried-chicken leader Raising Cane’s a significant boost.
Local restaurants can leverage location analytics to see what types of events are popular with their visitor base and craft collaborations and advertising campaigns that resonate effectively with their patrons.
Sports stadiums and arenas are not just spaces for sports and music enthusiasts to gather; they also offer significant commercial opportunities for the surrounding communities. Stadium operators and local businesses can fine-tune their offerings by utilizing location analytics to better connect with their visitor bases and uncover new retail opportunities.
The dining industry showcased its agility over the past couple of years as it rapidly adapted to shifts in consumer preference brought on by COVID and rising prices. And with a new year around the corner, the pace of change shows no signs of slowing down.
This white paper harnesses location analytics, including visitation patterns, demographic data, and psychographic insights, to explore the trends that will shape the dining space in 2024. Which dining segments are likely to pull ahead of the pack? How are chains responding to changes in visitor behavior? And where are brands driving dining foot traffic by taking advantage of a new advertising possibility? Read on to find out how dining leaders can tap into emerging trends to stay ahead of the competition in 2024.
Comparing quarterly visits in 2023 and 2022 highlights the impact of the ongoing economic headwinds on the dining industry. The year started off strong, with year-over-year (YoY) dining visits up overall in Q1 2023 – perhaps aided by the comparison to an Omicron-impacted muted Q1 2022. And while overall dining growth stalled in Q2 2023, several segments – including QSR, Fast Casual, and Coffee – continued posting YoY visit increases, likely bolstered by consumers trading down from pricier full-service concepts.
Foot traffic slowed significantly in Q3 2023 as inflation and tighter consumer budgets constrained discretionary spending. Overall dining visits fell 2.4% YoY, and full-service restaurants – with their relatively high price point compared to other dining segments – seemed to be particularly impacted by the wider economic outlook. But the data also revealed some bright spots: Fast Casual still succeeded in maintaining positive YoY visit numbers and Coffee saw its Q3 visit grow an impressive 5.4% YoY. As the return to office continues, a pre-work coffee run or lunchtime foray to a fast-casual chain may continue propelling the two segments forward.
Restaurant visitation patterns have evolved over the past few years. Although an 8 PM seating was once the most coveted slot at fine-dining restaurants, recent visitation data suggests that sitting down to dinner earlier is rising in popularity.
But among the QSR segment, the opposite trend is emerging, with late-night visits rising. Analyzing hourly foot traffic to several major QSR chains reveals that the share of visits between 9 PM and 12 AM increased significantly between Q3 2019 and Q3 2023. Even Taco Bell – already known for its popularity among the late-night crowd – saw a substantial increase in late-night visits YoY – from 15.4% to 20.3%.
Who is driving the late night visit surge? One reason restaurants have been expanding their opening hours is to capture more Gen-Z diners, who tend to seek out nighttime dining options. But location intelligence reveals that younger millennials are also taking advantage of the later QSR closing times.
An analysis of the captured market for trade areas of top locations within one of Taco Bell’s major markets – the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan area – reveals a year-over-four-year (Yo4Y) increase in “Singles & Starters.” The “Singles & Starters” segment is defined by Experian: Mosaic as young singles and starter families living in cities who are typically between 25 and 30 years old. As consumers continue to prioritize experiential entertainment and going out with friends, late-night dining may continue to see increased interest from young city-dwellers.
Millennials and Gen-Z consumers aren’t only heading to their favorite fast food joint for a late-night bite – these audience segments are also helping drive visits on the weekends. Smoothie King is one chain feeling the benefits of young, health-conscious consumers.
The chain, which opened in New Orleans, LA, in 1973 as a health food store, has since grown to over 1,100 locations nationwide and is currently expanding, focusing on the Dallas-Fort Worth CBSA. The area’s Smoothie King venues have seen strong visitation patterns, particularly on the weekends – weekend visits were up 3.4% YoY in Q3 2023. The smoothie brand’s trade areas in the greater Dallas region is also seeing a YoY increase in weekend visits from “Young Professionals” – defined by the Spatial.ai PersonaLive dataset as “well-educated young professionals starting their careers in white-collar or technical jobs.”
While some dining chains are appealing to the late-night or weekend crowd, others are driving visits by appealing to sports lovers. How have recent rule changes around student athletes changed the restaurant game, and how can college football teams drive business in their hometowns?
College sports have long been a major moneymaker, with top-tier teams raking in billions of dollars annually. And as of 2021, college athletes can enjoy a piece of the significant fan following of college sports thanks to the change in the NCAA’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules, which now allows student athletes to sign endorsement deals.
Since then, multiple restaurants have jumped on the opportunity to partner with student athletes, some of whom have millions of followers on Instagram and TikTok. Chains like Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Slim Chickens, and Hooters have all signed college athletes to various brand deals.
How can brands ensure they partner with athletes their customers will want to engage with? Analyzing a chain’s audience by looking at the interests of residents in a given chain’s trade area can reveal which type of athlete will be the most attractive to each brand’s customer base. For example, data from Spatial.ai: Followgraph provides insight into the social media activity of consumers in a given trade area and can highlight desirable partnerships.
Examining the trade areas of Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Slim Chickens, and Hooters, for instance, reveals that Sweetgreen’s visitors tended to have the largest share of Women’s Soccer followers. Conversely, Sweetgreen’s trade area had lower-than-average shares of College Football Fans or College Basketball Fans, while residents of the trade areas of the other three chains showed greater-than-average interest in these sports. Leveraging location intelligence can help companies choose brand deals that their customers resonate with and find the ideal athletes to represent the chain.
Finding the right college athlete partnership is one way for dining brands to appeal to college sports enthusiasts. But dining chains and venues located near major college stadiums also benefit from the popularity of their local team by enjoying a major game day visit boost.
One of the country’s most popular college football teams, the Ohio State Buckeyes, can draw millions of TV viewers, and its stadium has a capacity of 102,780 – one of the largest stadiums in the country. And while tailgating is a popular activity for Buckeyes fans, nearby restaurants are some of the biggest beneficiaries of the college football craze. Panera experienced a 235.3% increase on game days as compared to a typical day, Domino’s Pizza visits grew by 283.3%, and Tommy’s Pizza, a local pie shop, saw its visits jump by a whopping 600.9%.
This influx in diners also causes a major shift in game day visitor demographics, as revealed by changes in visitors at dining venues located near stadiums of two of the nation’s best college football teams – the Ohio State Buckeyes and Ole Miss Rebels. Based on Spatial.ai: Personalive data for the captured market of these dining venues, game day visitors tended to come from “Ultra Wealthy Families” when compared to visitors during a typical non-game day in September or October.
The analysis indicates that popular sporting events create a unique opportunity for restaurants near college stadiums to attract high-income customers game day after game day, year after year.
While some spend game day tailgating or visiting a college restaurant, others hold a viewing party – with a six-foot submarine. And the sub’s popularity extends beyond Superbowl Sundays. Sandwich chains including Jersey Mike’s, Firehouse Subs, Jimmy John’s, and Subway (recently purchased by the same company that owns Jimmy John’s) have seen sustained YoY increases in visits and visits per venue in the first three quarters of 2023.
Some of the growth to these chains may be related to their affordability, a draw at all times but especially during a period marked by consumer uncertainty and rising food costs. And subway leaders seem to be seizing the moment and striking while the iron is hot – Jersey Mike’s opened 350 stores in 2023 and still saw its YoY visits per venue grow by 6.6%. And Subway reported ten consecutive quarters of positive sales, a promising sign for its new owner.
The love for a healthy, affordable sandwich extends across all income levels, with all four chains seeing a range in their visitors' median household income (HHI). Out of the four chains analyzed, Jersey Mike’s – which has long prioritized a suburban, middle-income customer – had the highest trade area median household income of the four chains at $77.3K/year. Subway, known for its affordability, had the lowest, with $62.9K/year. The variance in median HHI combined with the strong foot traffic growth shows that when it comes to sandwiches, there’s something for everyone.
Persistent inflation and declining consumer sentiment may pose serious challenges for the dining space, but emerging trends are helping boost some restaurants. Customers seeking out a late-night bite drive visits to QSR chains, and health-conscious diners are boosting foot traffic to smoothie bars and sandwich shops. Meanwhile, sports sponsorships and game-day restaurant visits can provide a boost to dining businesses that take advantage of these opportunities.
