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Brick-and-mortar retail continues to evolve – and while consumers have always turned to physical commercial spaces to gather, shop, eat, and be entertained, we predict that 2025 will be the year of brick and mortar stores as Brand Amplifiers. What do we mean by that? Simply put, the more we have options to do things online – be it shop, communicate, work, or play – the more we also crave the opportunity to do these things in the physical world, and brick and mortar is at the center of making these experiences larger than life. It’s no surprise, then, that even digitally native Gen Z is still regularly visiting physical stores.
We’ve written extensively about the importance of brick-and-mortar locations for digital brands and of standalone boutiques for wholesale brands – within the four walls of a branded store, marketers have the ability to control the narrative. From the visual merchandising to the customer associate, the brand’s personality and DNA can really come to life.
The recent Meta Popup Lab on Melrose Ave in the West Hollywood Design District – created to test its Ray-Ban smart glasses – offers a great example of brick and mortar’s potential to amplify digital brands and make them come to life. While the venue only opened for a little under two months, visitation data and audience profile analysis reveals the consumer demand for the experience as well as the brand amplification value that Meta received from the pop up.
Weekends tend to be the most popular recreation days, as that’s when most people have free time to shop and explore. And looking at visitation patterns shows that this trend held true at the Meta Popup Lab and in the wider Design District retail corridor in which the pop up was operating. But the Meta Popup Lab actually received a larger share of its visits on Saturdays and Sundays compared to the wider shopping corridor – indicating that visitors were dedicating precious weekend time to visit the pop up and make sure they could get the full Meta experience without feeling rushed by their various weekday constraints.
Diving into the visit duration at Meta Lab reveals that over a quarter of visits lasted between 15-29 minutes, and roughly 1 in 6 lasted 30-44 minutes. That time frame is enough to try on some frames, speak to a customer associate, and make a purchase decision.
Meta Lab also drew more visitors from trade areas with higher income and smaller households compared to the wider West Hollywood Design District. This indicates that, as may be expected, Meta Lab attracted a relatively young and affluent audience – tech-savvy visitors with the disposable income to spend.
The success of the Meta Popup Lab underscores the potential of brick-and-mortar spaces as brand amplifiers, transforming digital concepts into immersive, tangible experiences. As consumers continue to seek deeper connections with brands, physical retail offers a unique opportunity to engage, educate, and excite in ways that digital alone cannot. In an era where online and offline worlds are increasingly intertwined, brands that strategically leverage physical spaces will stand out by creating lasting impressions that go beyond the screen.
The Placer 100 Index for Retail & Dining is a curated, dynamic list of leading chains operating across the United States. It includes chains from a variety of industries, such as superstores, grocery, dollar stores, apparel, full-service dining, QSR, and more.
Visits to the Placer 100 Retail & Dining Index increased 3.7% in January 2025 relative to January 2024, indicating that – despite the recent dip in consumer confidence – traffic to brick-and-mortar retail and dining venues remains resilient.
We’ve written extensively about Chili’s ongoing success, so it came as no surprise that the casual dining chain topped the Placer 100 chart again in January 2025: Overall visits and visits per location grew a whopping 29.3% and 30.2%, respectively, compared to January 2024. Barnes & Noble has also been thriving for a while, and the legacy bookseller continued its winning streak with double-digit growth in both overall visits and visits per location in the first month of 2025.
Other notable chart-toppers from January 2025 include LA Fitness, which has been rightsizing its fleet and closing locations throughout the country, leading to a 8.1% year-over-year (YoY) increase in average visits per location. CVS, which closed numerous venues in 2024 as well, has also seen its average visits per location shoot up.
Like Chili’s and Barnes & Noble, Warby Parker was among the January 2025 top 10 growth chains for both overall visits and visits per venue. The company is opening stores at a rapid rate with the long-term goal of 900 brick-and-mortar stores nationwide.
Warby is an expert in omnichannel integration, and the company continues to enhance the online customer experience even as it builds up a brick-and-mortar empire. And analyzing the brand’s January 2025 metrics along with its 2024 performance – when overall visits increased 16.8% while average visits per venue remained steady – reveals that this investment in both its physical and digital channels is paying off.
According to co-CEO and co-founder Dave Gilboa, brick-and-mortar venues accounted for around 70% of Warby Parker’s revenue as of Q3 2024 – an increase from 67% in Q3 2023 – though many customers who initially bought in-store made subsequent purchases online. This showcases the customer acquisition potential of physical stores, especially for companies who succeed in integrating and creating synergy between their offline and online presence. And some of Warby’s strongest e-commerce growth has taken place in metro areas where the brand has a significant physical presence – emphasizing the role that brick-and-mortar venues play in raising brand awareness and strengthening consumer engagement.
It seems, then, that Warby Parker's strategic offline expansion is not only driving in-store sales but also fueling online growth – demonstrating the powerful interplay between brick-and-mortar locations and digital engagement in strengthening customer loyalty and brand visibility.
For more Placer 100 Retail & Dining Index data, visit https://www.placer.ai/placer-100.
About the Placer.ai Mall Index: The Index analyzes data from 100 top-tier indoor malls, 100 open-air shopping centers (not including outlet malls) and 100 outlet malls across the country, in both urban and suburban areas. Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the country.
Shopping centers started the year off strong with year-over-year growth across all mall formats analyzed: January 2025 visits increased by 5.5% for indoor malls and by 2.9% and 2.7% for open-air shopping centers and outlet malls, respectively, compared to January 2024. The January visit growth is particularly impressive given this year’s arctic blast which kept many consumers home for much of the month.
Relatively few mall-goers visit the mall twice (or more) in one month. Open-air shopping centers have the highest rate of returning monthly visitors – likely thanks to their extensive dining and entertainment options – but even this format only sees around a third of its visitors heading to an open-air shopping center more than once a month.
Comparing the share of returning visitors in January 2024 and 2025 for each format reveals that the share of returning (2+ times) visitors decreased YoY in January 2025, even as overall traffic increased. This means that last month’s visit growth was primarily driven by casual visitors, and could indicate that interest in malls is moving beyond regular patrons as the format now gains new customers – boding well for shopping centers’ potential in 2025.
Even though January visits increased YoY, traffic was still (expectedly) significantly lower than it was in December. The holidays are malls’ busiest season, and traffic between December 2024 and January 2025 dropped 36.1%, on average, across the three formats. And diving into the data reveals several shifts in audience profile and visitor behavior between December and January.
In terms of visitor behavior, dwell time across the three mall formats fell in January compared to December, indicating that all three shopping center types enjoy an increase in both the quantity and the quality of visits over the holiday season. The increase in dwell time in December seemed correlated with the increase in holiday visits: Outlet malls, which received the largest holiday visit boost, also had the biggest difference in dwell time between December and January (73.8 minutes compared to 68.7 minutes, or a 6.9% increase in dwell time in December). Meanwhile, open-air shopping centers, which received the smallest holiday visit boost, also saw the smallest difference in dwell time between December and January.
In terms of audience profile, the holidays seemed to drive more visits from members of households with children to all mall formats. This is likely due to several factors, including parents looking for a one-stop-shop for their gift lists and to the numerous family-friendly holiday activities offered by malls across the country, such as mall Santas and holiday markets.
The January 2025 Mall Index data suggests significant growth potential for malls in 2025. The increase in one-off visits may indicate that malls are attracting a broader audience, signaling an opportunity for retailers and shopping centers to convert these casual visitors into loyal customers. Will malls leverage this momentum to ensure that today’s occasional mall-goers become tomorrow’s repeat shoppers?
Visit placer.ai to find out.
The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles will face off in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday in a rematch of the Super Bowl two years ago. And on their journeys to the big game, each team hosted a conference championship in their home stadium – in both the 2023 and 2025 playoffs. How did the visitors to these games compare, and what might it mean for this Super Bowl sequel? Read on to find out.
The AFC and NFC Championships determine the teams that will play in the Super Bowl – and die hard fans travel from near and far to attend big games.
The AFC Championship in both 2023 (for the 2022 season) and 2025 (for the 2024 season) took place at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium – home of the Kansas City Chiefs – with the Chiefs playing the Cincinnati Bengals in 2023 and the Buffalo Bills in 2025. In 2025, GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium saw an increased share of visitors traveling less than 30 miles to the stadium (45.1%), compared to 2023 (43.6%). Fans tend to rally around a winning team, and an increase in local attendees suggests a boost in support from the Chief’s core fanbase in the Kansas City, MO area as the team looked to take another step towards winning three straight Super Bowls. But the stadium also received an elevated share of attendees traveling 100-250 miles to the stadium in 2025 (24.7%) compared to 2023 (21.5%) – a distance that includes Omaha, NE, Tulsa, OK, and Wichita, KS – indicating that Chiefs Kingdom has also bolstered its strongholds somewhat further away over the last two years.
On the NFC side, the Philadelphia Eagles played at their home stadium – Lincoln Financial Field – in both the 2023 NFC Championship (for the 2022 season) against the San Francisco 49ers and the 2025 NFC Championship (for the 2024 season) against the Washington Commanders. And between 2023 and 2025, the share of visitors who traveled between 100-250 miles to Lincoln Financial Field doubled (from 6.0% to 12.0%) – likely thanks to the D.C. area fans who made the trip to cheer on the Washington Commanders in 2025. The share of attendees who traveled between 30-100 miles also increased in 2025 relative to 2023 (23.4% vs. 21.5%), which could reflect visitors from areas adjacent to Philadelphia and Washington D.C. who also support one of the two competing NFC East teams.
During the upcoming Super Bowl at Caesars Stadium in New Orleans, LA, neither team will have home-field advantage. But if past Super Bowls provide any indication, a sizable local audience is to be expected, along with fans traveling from the teams’ hometowns and other large population centers.
Analyzing the audience segmentation of the stadium visitors at the 2023 and 2025 AFC and NFC Championships can provide further insight into the fans that were in attendance – and those who might attend the Super Bowl.
Despite the geographical distance between GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in the Midwest and Lincoln Financial Field in the Mid-Atlantic, their audiences during these high-profile contests were surprisingly similar. Trade area analysis of the two stadiums combined with the Spatial.ai: PersonaLive dataset revealed that the “Ultra Wealthy Families,” “Upper Suburban Diverse Families,” “Wealthy Suburban Families,” and “Young Professionals” segments were the largest audience groups in the captured markets of both stadiums for the 2023 and 2025 Conference Championships. (A venue’s captured market refers to the census block groups (CBGs) from which it draws its visitors, weighted to reflect the share of visits from each one – and thus reflects the profile of the venue’s visitor base.)
This suggests that despite regional differences and ticket-price differentials, for the biggest games, fans in the stands come from relatively similar households. This may also be the case for the Super Bowl, which rotates annually between NFL stadiums.
Moving on from the Conference Championships, the stakes will be even higher this coming Sunday at Super Bowl LIX. How will visitation and demographic patterns stack up?Visit Placer.ai to find out.
Shake Shack and Wingstop, two major names in the fast-casual and quick-service restaurant category, have had a standout year. Both chains enjoyed impressive visits while executing wide-ranging expansion strategies.
We dive into the location analytics for both brands to recap 2024’s success.
Shake Shack and Wingstop performed extremely well in 2024, with visits up 21.7% and 23.0%, respectively, compared to 2023 – thanks in large part to aggressive fleet expansions. Both chains enjoyed their strongest year-over-year (YoY) visit growth in the first half of the year, with H1 2024 visits to Shake Shack up 26.0% and to Wingstop up 28.7% compared to the same period in 2023. And while growth slowed down slightly towards the end of 2024, the two brands still ended the year with 16.8% (Shake Shack) and 11.6% (Wingstop) Q4 YoY visit growth – quite an impressive metric, especially given the wider dining headwinds.
Shake Shack and Wingstop are both in the midst of aggressive fleet expansions: Shake Shack opened 42 new locations and plans to triple that number in the coming years, while Wingstop added at least 138 new locations and also plans on adding hundreds of new stores in the coming years. Both companies have made suburban expansion a central focus of their growth strategies, and psychographic shifts in their captured markets over the past five years suggest this approach is working. Analyzing the chains’ visitor bases using the Esri: Tapestry dataset combined with Placer.ai captured market data reveals that Shake Shack increased the share of “Suburban Periphery” visitors in its trade area from 43.8% in 2019 to 45.4% in 2024. The share of the “Suburban Periphery” segment in Wingstop’s trade area rose from 23.8% to 24.9% during the same period. Wingstop also saw a decline in its share of “Urban Periphery” visitors while the share of the “Principal Urban Center” segment in both chains’ trade areas decreased during the analyzed period – further indicating growth in suburban markets.As more people migrate to the suburbs, offering convenient dining options outside of city centers is likely to remain a winning strategy for both chains.
While expansions helped drive the overall visit numbers up, the two chains also received several traffic spikes throughout the year driven by limited time offers (LTOs) and special menu launches. This strategy has recently proven successful for a number of QSR and fast-casual chains – Wendy’s, for example, finished 2024 with a 2.8% YoY increase in Q4 visits (0.7% YoY increase for 2024 as a whole) thanks in large part to its Krabby Patty Kollab LTO. Shake Shack received the most significant visit increase relative to its 2024 weekly visit average during its holiday special which included offers of free burgers every day from mid-December through Christmas Eve. Diners eagerly responded to the promotion, with weekly visits surging by 24.4% during the week of December 16th, 2024 relative to 2024’s weekly average. Similarly, Wingstop’s National Wing Day promo led to a 17.2% visit increase over the week of July 30th. Other promotional activities also influenced visits at these dining chains. For example, Shake Shack’s summer barbecue menu, which included a unique perk – a limited offer of “stain insurance” for customers who got excess BBQ sauce on their clothes – drove visits 13.8% higher than the weekly visit average. Similarly, Wingstop’s Summer of Flavor bundle drove visits to the chain during the week of July 22nd, 2024 by 6.6% relative to the 2024 weekly visit average. These promotions highlight the importance of creating buzz and offering exclusive deals to attract both new and returning customers.
Both Shake Shack and Wingstop enjoyed impressive visits in 2024 while expanding their fleets – but can the two chains continue this success into 2025? Visit Placer.ai/blog to keep up with the latest data-driven dining insights.
In December 2024, Saks Fifth Avenue finalized its acquisition of Neiman Marcus – forming a new parent company Saks Global. We dove into the foot traffic patterns and audience segmentation for the two department stores in order to better understand Saks Global’s positioning following the deal.
Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus are four of the leading players in the luxury department store space. Analysis of the retailers’ relative visits share in 2024 reveals that Nordstrom claims the lion's share of combined visits between the four department stores (68.4% in 2024), distantly followed by Bloomingdale’s (14.9%). On their own, Saks (7.3%) and Neiman (9.5%) drive the smallest shares of visits, but together, the two department stores account for a greater share of visits than Bloomingdale’s, making Saks Global the second largest luxury department store player by share of visits.
In addition to a larger share of visits, by acquiring Neiman Marcus, Saks appears to gain an audience with a greater affinity for “accessible luxury”. Although a sizeable share of Saks’ visitors also visited a Nordstrom store (40.4%), an even larger share (just over half, or 50.1%) of Neiman’s visitors also visited the accessible luxury department stores. Some have posited that Saks Fifth Avenue could be positioned as an “accessible luxury brand”. However, the data suggests that Neiman may be better suited to compete for visits from “accessible luxury” shoppers.
Diving deeper into the retailers’ quarterly visit patterns further highlights how Saks stands to gain through its acquisition of Neiman. Of the four luxury department stores analyzed, Saks Fifth Avenue received the smallest share of its visits in Q4, while Neiman received the largest share of its visits over the holiday shopping season. So by acquiring Neiman, Saks Global benefits from a greater share of visits during a critical retail moment.
Along with visit share gains and a larger holiday boost, the acquisition of Neiman Marcus gives Saks Global access to a more affluent audience than Saks Fifth Avenue’s. Analysis of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus’s trade areas combined with STI:PopStats data reveals that both retailers drive traffic from households with above-average incomes – but Neiman’s audience seems to be slightly more affluent: In Q4 2024, the median household income (HHI) of Neiman’s captured market was $112.8K/year, approximately $10K/year higher than Saks Fifth Avenue’s ($102.9K/year). A more affluent audience may better position Saks Global in the exclusive luxury space, particularly as it launches Authentic Luxury Group – a platform that aims to accelerate the growth of upscale brands like Barneys New York.
Further analysis of segmentation data reveals that Neiman Marcus also brings a more family-oriented audience to the Saks ecosystem. In Q4 2024, 26.2% of households in Neiman Marcus’ captured market were households with children – relatively near the 27.0% nationwide benchmark. Meanwhile, only 23.7% of households in Saks Fifth Avenue’s captured market were households with children. This suggests that the acquisition of Neiman allows Saks Global to drive more traffic from family-oriented households previously underserved by the Saks Fifth Avenue banner. Several Saks and Neiman locations are in close proximity to each other, so it’s conceivable that Saks Global will consolidate its real estate footprint in the future. If so, understanding audience segmentation could help the new parent company decide which retailer best serves the local market.
Saks Fifth Avenue’s acquisition of Neiman Marcus strengthens Saks Global’s position in luxury retail, boosting its visits share and access to a more affluent, family-oriented audience.How will the merger impact the luxury department store space moving forward? Visit Placer.ai to find out.
1. Shoppers are taking more, shorter trips to grocery stores. Over the past 12 months, grocery stores have experienced nearly uniform YoY visit growth. And since COVID, the segment has steadily increased both overall visits and average visits per location – even as average dwell times have consistently declined.
2. Grocery stores are holding ground against fierce competition. Despite growing inroads by discount and dollar stores, wholesale clubs, and general mass retailers like Walmart and Target, grocery stores have maintained their share of the overall food-at-home visit pie over the past several years.
3. Grocery visit share is most pronounced on the coasts. In Q1 2025, grocery stores claimed the majority of food-at-home visits on the West Coast, in parts of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Mountain Regions, and in Florida and Michigan.
4. Fresh-format, value, and ethnic grocery visit shares are growing at the expense of traditional chains. And in Q1 2025, fresh-format and value grocers outperformed the other sub-segments with positive YoY visit and average visit-per-location growth.
5. Hispanic markets are on the rise. Though the broader ethnic grocery sub-segment was essentially flat YoY in Q1 2025, Hispanic-focused stores recorded increases in both visits and visits per location – and have been steadily growing visits since 2021.
6. Smaller formats for the win. In Q1 2025, smaller-format grocery store locations outpaced mid-sized and larger-format ones, underscoring the power of compact spaces to deliver significant foot traffic gains.
Brick-and-mortar grocery stores face an uncertain market in 2025. Rising food-at-home prices (eggs, anyone?), declining consumer confidence, and increased competition from discounters, superstores, and online shopping channels all present the segment with significant headwinds. Yet even in the face of these challenges, the sector has demonstrated remarkable resilience – growing its foot traffic and holding onto visit share.
What strategies have helped the segment navigate today’s tough market? And how can industry stakeholders make the most of the opportunities in the current market? This report draws on the latest location intelligence to uncover the trends shaping grocery retail in early 2025 – highlighting insights to help key players make informed, data-driven decisions on store formats, product offerings, and more.
The grocery segment has experienced nearly uniform positive year-over-year (YoY) growth over the last 12 months. This sustained performance in the face of inflation and other headwinds highlights the underlying strength of the category.
What is driving this growth? Since 2022, the grocery segment has seen consistent overall visit growth that has outpaced increases in visits per location – a sign that chain expansion has played a key role in the category’s success. But the average number of visits to each grocery store has also been on the rise, indicating that the segment continues to expand without cannibalizing existing store traffic.
At the same time, visitor dwell times have been steadily dropping since 2021. This shift appears to reflect a trend towards multiple, shorter trips by inflation-wary consumers eager to avoid large, costly carts or cherry pick deals across various retailers. Many shoppers may also be placing more bulk orders online and supplementing those deliveries with brief in-store stops for additional items as needed.
The bottom line: Shoppers are taking more grocery trips overall each year, but spending less time in-store during each visit. Operators can respond to this trend by optimizing layouts and promoting “grab-and-go” areas for an even more efficient quick-trip experience.
Visit share data also shows that despite fierce competition from discount and dollar stores, wholesalers, and general mass retailers, the grocery segment has steadfastly preserved its share of the overall food-at-home visit pie.
Between Q1 2019 and Q1 2025, wholesale clubs and discount and dollar stores increased their share of total food-at-home visits, gains that have come primarily at the expense of Walmart and Target. Meanwhile, grocery outlets have held firm – despite some fluctuations over the years, their Q1 2019 visit share remained essentially unchanged in Q1 2025.
So even as consumers flock to alternative food purveyors in search of lower prices, grocery stores aren’t losing ground – and on a nationwide level, they remain the biggest player by far in the food-at-home shopping space.
Still, grocery store visit share varies significantly by region. On the West Coast, in parts of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Mountain regions, and in Florida and Michigan, grocery stores accounted for the majority of food-at-home visits in Q1 2025. Oregon (61.6%) and Washington (59.6%) led the pack, followed by Massachusetts (59.2%), Vermont (58.5%), and California (57.9%). Meanwhile, in West Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Mississippi, less than 30% of food-at-home traffic went to grocery stores, with more shoppers in these regions turning to general mass retailers or discounters.
Grocery store operators in lower-grocery-share regions may choose to focus on price competitiveness and convenient store locations to capture more foot traffic from competitors in the space.
Which types of grocery stores are thriving the most? The grocery segment is diverse, encompassing traditional grocery chains like Kroger, Safeway, and H-E-B; budget-oriented value chains such as Aldi, WinCo Foods, Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, and Market Basket; fresh-format specialty brands like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Sprouts Farmers Market; and numerous ethnic grocers.
Examining shifts in visit share among these various grocery store segments shows that traditional grocery still dominates, commanding over 70.0% of total grocery store foot traffic.
Still, over the past several years, traditional grocers have gradually ceded ground to other segments – especially value chains. Budget grocers saw a temporary surge in visits during the panic-buying days of early 2020 – and have been more gradually gaining visit share since Q1 2023. . Fresh-format banners, which lost ground in 2021 after a Q1 2020 bump, in the wake of COVID, have also been on the upswing and appear poised to capture additional visit share in the coming months and years. And though ethnic grocers still account for a relatively small portion of the overall market, they have slightly increased their visit share, reflecting heightened consumer interest in these specialized offerings.
Recent performance metrics point to a bifurcation in the grocery market similar to that observed in other retail categories. In Q1 2025, fresh-format and value retailers – which appeal, respectively, to the most and least affluent visitor bases – saw the greatest growth in both overall visits and average visits per location.
This trend highlights the power of both value and health-focused quality to motivate consumers in 2025. And grocery players that can meet these needs will be well-positioned for success in the months ahead.
One factor fueling fresh-format’s success may be its role as a convenient, relatively affordable midday lunch destination for the remote work crowd.
In Q1 2025, consumers working from home accounted for 20.2% of fresh-format grocery stores’ captured market – a significantly higher share than any other analyzed grocery segment. These stores also tended to be busier midday than the other segments. Remote workers may be stopping by to grab a quick bite – and some may be choosing to do their grocery shopping during their lunch break when stores are less crowded.
This finding suggests an opportunity for grocery operators across all segments to develop or enhance in-store salad bars and quick-serve sections to tap into the lunch rush. Likewise, CPG companies may benefit from developing more ready-made, nutritious meal options that align with these midday dining habits.
Though the broader ethnic grocery category remained essentially flat in Q1 2025, Hispanic-focused grocers emerged as a sub-segment to watch. Both overall visits and average visits per location to these stores have been on the rise since 2021.
This robust demand presents an opportunity for CPG brands and grocers across segments to expand Hispanic-focused offerings, capturing a slice of this growing market.
Finally, store size matters more than ever in 2025. During the first quarter of the year, smaller format grocery store locations (locations under 30K square feet, across different chains) outpaced larger stores with a 3.2% YoY jump in visits, showing that bigger isn’t always better in the grocery store space.
This pattern aligns with the decrease in dwell times noted above – shoppers may be making shorter trips to smaller, more convenient grocery store locations. These quick errands are ideal for picking up a few items to supplement online orders, shopping multiple deals, or sourcing specialty products unavailable at larger grocery destinations. And to lean into this trend, grocery operators might consider testing neighborhood “micro-store” concepts, focusing on curated selections, and offering convenient parking or pickup to match consumer preferences for targeted purchases and quicker trips.
Location intelligence reveals a growing, dynamic grocery landscape which is holding its ground in the face of increased competition. Shorter trips, busier lifestyles, and changing work routines are reshaping in-store experiences. And grocery players that refine their store formats, target both lunch and on-the-go shoppers, and adapt to shifting demographics can position themselves to thrive in this competitive sector. As the market continues to evolve, continuous attention to these changing patterns will be key to maintaining and expanding market share.
1. Elevated visitor frequency could mean that gym-goers are getting more value out of their memberships and are therefore more likely to stay signed up. Between January and March 2025, all of the gym chains analyzed had a higher share of frequent visitors (those who visited about once a week) than in the equivalent month of 2024.
2. Fitness chains at all price tiers need to be strategic about the value they offer and the amenities that can engage budget-conscious consumers. Between Q1 2022 and Q1 2025, the captured trade area median HHI increased for all fitness subsegments – value-priced, mid-range, and high-end – suggesting that consumers swapped pricier gym memberships for more affordable options.
3. Close attention should be paid to how long visitors spend at fitness chains in order to reduce crowding and bottlenecks. Between Q1 2022 and Q1 2025, the average visit length increased at value-priced, mid-range, and high-end gyms. Floorplan and equipment improvements could be considered, as well as having trainers available to help gym-goers streamline workouts.
4. Gyms can use hourly visit data to better serve their members or use promotions to stabilize facility usage throughout the day. In Q1 2025, high-end chains received a larger share of morning visits while value-priced and mid-range fitness chains received larger shares of evening visits.
Like many industries in recent years, the fitness sector has experienced significant shifts in consumer behavior. From the rise in home workouts during the pandemic to the strain of hyper-inflation, foot traffic trends to gyms and health clubs have been as dynamic as the consumers they serve.
This report leverages location analytics to explore the consumer trends driving visitation in the fitness space and provides actionable insights for industry stakeholders.
The pandemic drove several shifts in the fitness space. Widespread gym closures led consumers to embrace home-based workouts, while demand for all things fitness increased due to an emphasis on overall health and wellness. This subsequently drove a renewed interest in gym-based workouts as restrictions lifted – even as some consumers remained committed to their home workout routines.
In Q1 2023, visits to fitness chains surpassed Q1 2019 levels for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, a sign that consumers had recommitted to out-of-home fitness. And in Q1 2024 and Q1 2025, fitness chains saw further growth, climbing to 12.8% and 15.5% above the Q1 2019 baseline, respectively.
Several factors have likely driven consumers’ return to gyms and health clubs, including the desire for both social connection and professional-grade facilities difficult to replicate at home. The steep increase in cost of living has likely also played a role, since consumers cutting back on discretionary spending can enjoy multiple outings and a range of recreational activities at the gym for one monthly fee.
Zooming in on weekly visits to the fitness space in Q1 2025 reveals the industry’s exceptional strength and resilience in the early part of the year.
The fitness industry experienced YoY visit growth nearly every week of Q1 2025 (and 2.4% YoY visit growth overall) with only minor visit gaps the weeks of January 20th, 2025 and February 17th, 2025 – likely due to extreme weather that prevented many Americans from hitting the gym.
And the fitness industry’s weekly visit growth appeared to strengthen throughout the quarter, defying the typical waning of New Year's resolutions. This could indicate that gym visits haven't plateaued and that consumers are demonstrating greater commitment to their fitness routines compared to last year.
Diving into visitation patterns for leading fitness chains highlights how increased visitor frequency drove foot traffic growth in Q1 2025.
Fitness chains tend to receive the most visits during the first months of the year as consumers recommit to health and wellness in their post-holidays New Year’s resolutions. And not only do more people hit the gym – analyzing the data reveals that gym-goers also typically work out more frequently during this period. Zooming in on 2025 so far suggests that consumers are especially committed to their fitness routines this year: Leading gyms saw an increase in the proportion of frequent visitors (4+ times a month) in Q1 2025 compared to the already significant percentage of frequent visitors in the first quarter of 2024.
Elevated visitor frequency could mean that gym-goers are getting more value out of their memberships than last year, and are therefore more likely to stay signed up throughout the year.
At the same time, the data also reveals that – contrary to what may be expected – a fitness chain’s share of frequent visitors appears to be independent of the cost of membership associated with the club: Life Time, a high-end club, and EōS Fitness, a value-priced gym, had the highest shares of frequent visitors between January 2024 and March 2025. This suggests that factors other than cost, such as location convenience, class offerings, community, or individual motivation, might be more influential in driving frequent gym attendance.
Segmenting the fitness industry by membership price tiers – value-priced, mid-range, and high-end – can reveal further insights on current consumer behavior around out-of-home fitness.
In Q1 2025, the captured market* median household income (HHI) was higher than the nationwide median HHI ($79.6K/year) across all price tiers – suggesting that even value-priced fitness chains are attracting a relatively affluent audience. This could indicate that gym memberships are somewhat of a luxury and that consumers from lower-income households gave up their gym memberships altogether as they tightened their purse strings.
Analyzing the historical data since Q1 2022 also reveals that the captured market median HHI has risen consistently over the past couple of years with the largest median HHI increase observed in the captured trade areas of high-end fitness chains. This suggests that middle-income households – that are more sensitive to the rising cost of living – likely swapped pricier gym memberships for more affordable options in recent years.
These metrics indicate that fitness chains at all price tiers need to think strategically about the value they offer and the amenities that can engage budget-conscious consumers who are carefully weighing every expenditure.
*Captured trade area is obtained by weighting the census block groups (CBGs) from which the chain draws its visitors according to their share of visits to the chain and thus reflects the population that visits the chain in practice.
Fitness clubs of all types need to manage their capacity to ensure health and safety standards and a positive experience for members. And understanding the average amount of time visitors spend at the gym can help fitness chains at every price point keep their finger on the pulse of their facilities.
Between Q1 2022 and Q1 2025, the average visit length increased at value-priced, mid-range, and high-end gyms. Value-priced gyms experienced the largest increase in average visit length – from 72.4 minutes in Q1 2022 to 74.0 minutes in Q1 2025 – perhaps due to their relatively lower-income visitors spending more time enjoying club amenities after cutting back on other forms of recreation. Meanwhile, mid-range and high-end gyms experienced relatively modest increases in average visit length, which were higher to begin with – likely due to their ample class and spa offerings and overall inviting, upscale spaces.
Elevated average visit length could mean that visitors are well-engaged and less likely to cancel their memberships. But as overall gym visits are on the rise, fitness chains may want to pay close attention to how long visitors spend at the facility. Floorplan and equipment improvements could be considered in order to reduce bottlenecks, and having trainers available to instruct on equipment usage and workout technique could help gym-goers streamline workouts.
Along with average visit length, understanding the daypart in which they receive the most visits is another way that fitness chains can improve efficiency and prevent overcrowding. And analysis of the hourly visits to fitness sub-segments revealed that some fitness segments receive more morning visits while others are more popular in the evenings.
In Q1 2025, high-end chains received a larger share of visits between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. (19.7%) than value-priced and mid-range fitness chains (11.6% and 11.8%, respectively). Meanwhile, value-priced and mid-range fitness chains received larger shares of visits between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. (21.9% and 22.2%) than high-end chains (16.5%).
Gyms can leverage this data to better serve members, for instance by scheduling more classes during peak hours. Value-priced and mid-range gyms, which saw a larger disparity between shares of morning and evening visits in Q1 2025, might also consider incentivizing off-peak usage through discounted morning memberships or early-bird snack bar deals.
The fitness space appears to be in good shape in 2025. Visits have made a full recovery from the pandemic era and still continue to grow, indicating strong consumer demand for out-of-home workouts. And using location intelligence to analyze the behavior and demographics of visitors to gyms at different price points can help identify opportunities for driving even greater success.
1. Idaho and South Carolina have emerged as significant domestic migration magnets over the past four years. Between January 2021 and 2025, both states gained over 3.0% of their populations through domestic migration. Other Mountain and Sun Belt states – including Nevada, Montana, and Florida – also drew significant inflow, while California, New York, and Illinois experienced the greatest outmigration.
2. Interstate migration cooled noticeably in 2024. During the 12-month period ending January 2025, California, New York and Illinois saw their outflows slow dramatically, while domestic migration hotspots like Georgia, Texas, and Florida saw inflows flatten to zero. A similar cooling trend emerged on a CBSA level.
3. Still, some states continued to see notable relocation activity over the past year. In 2024, Idaho, South Carolina, and North Dakota drew the most relocators relative to their populations. And among the nation’s ten largest states, North Carolina led with an inflow of 0.4%.
4. Phoenix remained a rare bright spot among the nation’s ten largest metro areas. The CBSA was the only major analyzed hub to maintain positive net domestic migration through 2024.
Over the past several years, the United States has experienced significant domestic migration shifts, driven by factors like remote work, housing affordability, and regional economic opportunities. As some areas reap the benefits of population inflows, others grapple with outflows tied to higher living costs and evolving workplace dynamics.
This report dives into the location analytics to explore where Americans have moved since 2021 – and how these patterns began to change in 2024.
Since 2021, Americans have flocked toward warmer climates, expansive natural scenery, and more affordable housing options – particularly in the Mountain and Sun Belt states.
Between January 2021 and January 2025, South Carolina led the nation in positive net domestic migration – drawing an influx of newcomers equivalent to 3.6% of its January 2025 population. (This metric is referred to as a state’s “net migrated percent of population.”) Next in line was Idaho with a 3.4% net migrated percent of population, followed by Nevada, (2.8%), Montana (2.8%), Florida (2.1%), South Dakota (2.1%), Wyoming (2.0%), North Carolina (2.0%), and Tennessee (1.9%). Texas saw positive net migration of just 0.9% during the same period. However, the Lone Star State’s large overall population means a substantial number of newcomers in absolute terms.
Meanwhile, California (-2.2%), New York (-2.1%), and Illinois (-1.9%) experienced the greatest outflows relative to their populations. This exodus was driven largely by soaring housing costs and the rise of remote work, which lowered barriers to moving out of high-priced areas.
Between January 2024 and January 2025, many of the same broad patterns persisted, but at a more moderate clip – suggesting a stabilization of domestic migration nationwide. This leveling off could reflect factors such as rising mortgage interest rates, which dampened home buying and selling, as well as the increased push for employees to return to the office.
Still, South Carolina (+0.6%) and Idaho (+0.6%) remained among the top inflow states. The two hotspots were joined – and slightly surpassed – by North Dakota (+0.8%), where even modest waves of newcomers make a big impact due to the state’s lower population base. A wealth of affordable housing and a strong job market have positioned North Dakota as a particularly attractive destination for U.S. relocators in recent years. And Microsoft and Amazon’s establishment of major presences around Fargo has strengthened the region’s economy.
Meanwhile, California (-0.3%), New York (-0.2%), and Illinois (-0.1%) continued to post negative net migration, but at a markedly slower rate than in prior years. And notably, several states that had been struggling with outflow, such as Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, Ohio, and Oregon, began showing minor positive inflow during the same 12-month window. As home affordability erodes in pandemic-era hot spots like the Mountain states and Sun Belt, these areas may emerge as new destinations for Americans seeking lower costs of living.
Zooming in on the ten most populous U.S. states offers an even clearer picture of how domestic migration patterns have stabilized over the past year. The graph below shows a side-by-side comparison of domestic migration patterns during the 36-month period ending January 2024 and the 12-month period ending January 2025.
California, New York, and Illinois saw population outflows slow dramatically during the 12 months ending January 2025 – while domestic migration magnets such as Georgia, Texas, and Florida saw inflow flatten to zero. Meanwhile, Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania flipped from slightly negative to slightly positive net migration – incremental upticks that could signal a possible turnaround.
The only “Big Ten” pandemic-era migration magnet to maintain strong inflow in 2024 was North Carolina – which saw a 0.4% influx in 2024 as a result of interstate moves.
A closer look at the top four states receiving outmigration from California and New York (October 2020 to October 2024) reveals that residents leaving both states tended to settle in nearby areas or in Florida.
Among those leaving New York, 37.4% ended up in neighboring states – 21.1% moved to New Jersey, 9.2% to Pennsylvania, and 7.1% to Connecticut. But an astonishing 28.8% decamped all the way to the Sunshine State, trading the Northeast’s colder climate for Florida sunshine.
Similarly, 20.1% of California leavers chose to stay nearby, moving to Nevada (11.5%) or Arizona (8.6%). Another 19.1% moved to Texas, and 8.0% moved to Florida, making it the fourth-largest destination for Californians.
Zooming in on CBSA-level data – focusing on the nation’s ten largest metropolitan areas, all with over five million people – reveals a similar picture of slowing domestic migration over the last year.
Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. – four cities that experienced notable population outflows between January 2021 and January 2024 – saw those outflows flatten considerably. For these metros, this leveling-off may serve as a promising sign that the waves of departures seen in recent years may have begun to subside. Conversely, Houston and Dallas, which both welcomed positive net migration between January 2021 and January 2024, registered zero-net domestic migration in 2024. Atlanta, for its part, remained flat in both of the analyzed periods.
In Miami, however, outmigration persisted at a substantial rate. Despite Florida’s overall status as a domestic migration magnet, Miami lost 2.6% of its population to domestic net migration between January 2020 and January 2024 – and another 1.0% between January 2024 and January 2025. As one of Florida’s most expensive housing markets, Miami may be losing some residents to other parts of the state or elsewhere in the region. Meanwhile, Philadelphia, which lost 0.3% of its population to net domestic migration between January 2021 and January 2024, continued losing residents at a slightly faster pace in 2024 – another 0.3% just last year.
Of the ten biggest CBSAs nationwide, only Phoenix continued to see a net domestic migration gain through 2024 (+0.2%). This highlights the CBSA’s continued draw as a (relative) relocation hotspot even in 2024’s cooling market.
Who are the domestic relocators heading to Phoenix?
From October 2020 to October 2024, the top five metro areas sending residents to the Phoenix CBSA each registered median household incomes (HHIs) of $73K to $98K – surpassing Phoenix’s own median of $72K. This suggests that many of those moving in are arriving from wealthier, often more expensive metro areas – for whom even Phoenix’s high-priced market may offer more affordable living.
Overall, domestic migration patterns appear to have cooled in 2024, reflecting economic and societal trends that have slowed the rush from pricey coastal hubs to more affordable regions. Yet states like South Carolina, Idaho, and North Dakota – as well as metro areas like Phoenix – continue to attract new arrivals, paving the way for evolving regional demographics in the years to come.
